Thousands in compensation after faulty gastric band surgery
Sally received compensation after undergoing faulty gastric band surgery when band became unclipped and tore her stomach.
In 2007, 47 year old Sally underwent gastric band surgery as an NHS patient following a referral by her GP. She had made several unsuccessful attempts at weight loss through dieting.
After the operation, Sally started to experience a number of issues, including vomiting and regurgitation and, on occasion, had to physically remove regurgitated food from her mouth.
She returned to hospital on a number of occasions over the subsequent few years and the gastric band was readjusted but she continued to experience problems.
After an initial weight loss of 2 ½ stone following surgery, Sally started to put weight back on again.
Four years after the initial operation, Sally had an x-ray which showed that the gastric band had come unclipped and she was therefore scheduled for surgery to relock or replace it.
Unfortunately, during the operation, the surgeons discovered that the fastening mechanism of the band had failed and her stomach was torn and inflamed.
Sally’s gastric band had to be removed and the surgeons considered it unsafe to re-band. She has since been told that she will never be able to have any further banding procedure performed in the future.
The difficulties with her weight loss and gain, as well as the vomiting and reflux, caused Sally to have significant psychological problems in addition to a permanently damaged stomach.
Potter Rees Dolan was successful in securing a settlement figure for Sally of £25,000 in respect of her physical and psychological damage.
Lesley Herbertson acted for Sally and commented:
Sally had struggled with her weight for years and she was thrilled to finally be offered a treatment which would help her to manage her health in that way. However, whilst the original gastric banding procedure went well, Sally’s band was not properly monitored and adjusted thereafter, causing her to suffer years of ill-health.
Sadly, Sally’s chances of persistent weight loss are much reduced to the damage caused by the band, but we hope that she feels that her problems and damage have at least been recognised and that she is now able to move on following the positive outcome to her case.