Weight-loss surgeon told patient to ‘eat, eat, eat’

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.By Catriona MacPhee & Rachel CoburnBBC DisclosureA Turkish doctor selling weight-loss “holidays” abroad told an undercover BBC reporter to gain weight so she could have gastric sleeve surgery.Dr Ogün Erşen told the reporter to “eat some snacks” so she could increase her body mass index (BMI) to qualify for his weight loss surgery.The BBC reporter had a BMI of 24.4, which is within the healthy weight range.”You must eat, eat. Eat something and reach 30,” Dr Ersen said.The reporter gave the weight-loss clinic information which would have meant her BMI was 29 but she was not weighed and no medical checks were carried out during her consultation.Instead, Dr Erşen offered to book her in for surgery in three months’ time and told her to try to put on weight.Seven UK patients died after Turkey weight loss surgeryA health expert told the BBC it was completely unethical to push a patient to gain weight to hit the threshold for surgery.He stressed the risks of this irreversible surgery and said it should not be done if it is not needed.CosmedacareReferrals to weight management services in Scotland are up 96% compared to pre-pandemic levels and waiting lists for bariatric surgery on the NHS can exceed four years in some areas.The price to have it done privately in the UK is between £10,000 and £15,000 but it can cost as little as £2,000 to book weight-loss surgery in Turkey. However, a BBC Disclosure investigation has uncovered the unethical practices used by some companies offering cheap weight-loss “holidays” abroad.Ekol Hospitals is one of the many Turkish companies targeting British customers. It regularly holds sales days in cities across the UK. Undercover filming at a sales day in Glasgow revealed Ekol accepting patients whose BMI did not meet the criteria for bariatric surgery. BMI is based on a person’s height and weight and it is one of the main factors when assessing for bariatric surgery. A patient with a BMI of less than 40, and no severe co-morbidities relating to obesity, would typically be rejected for weight-loss surgery in the UK. Under the international IFSO guidelines the threshold is lower, at 35. What is bariatric surgery?Bariatric surgery, also known as weight-loss surgery, is used by the NHS as a last resort to treat people who are dangerously obese (having a body mass index of 40 or above or 35 plus other obesity-related health conditions).Patients must have tried and failed to achieve clinically-beneficial weight loss by all other appropriate non-surgical methods and be fit for surgery.The two most common types of weight loss surgery are:Sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass, where some of the stomach is removed or the digestive system is re-routed past most of the stomach Gastric band, where a band is used to reduce the size of the stomach so a smaller amount of food is required to make someone feel full At the Ekol sales day, two undercover journalists falsely …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]