Public awareness campaign on risks of accessing weight loss surgery overseas is crucial

Patients need clearer warnings about the risks of having surgery abroad.1 Health tourism in weight loss and aesthetic surgery is happening with accelerating frequency. In the past few months I have had to manage several patients who had bariatric and aesthetic surgery abroad and returned with complications. I hear stories from patients about advertising that lures them to clinics with the promise of cheap, quick, and transformative surgery. The cost of flights and hotels are sometimes included in the package. Delving deeper, the same patients report frustration with NHS waiting times as a driving force behind their seeking treatment abroad. Some admit to wanting a quick fix for physical problems. What patients fail to understand is that the NHS’s tier based system for bariatric surgery is designed to assess suitability for a procedure that is life changing, and in some instances irreversible.Follow-up after bariatric surgery is just as important as…
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