More teens get unapproved weight-loss surgery

In the land of fruits, nuts and flakes, IMHO malpractice rules.

A type of weight-loss surgery not approved for adolescents is becoming more and more common among teens in California, according to a report published today...

Michalsky said he wasn't surprised by the new findings, but noted that solid evidence for gastric banding has yet to be produced.

"Why do we feel it is necessary to operate on a bunch of 15-year-olds?" he told Reuters Health. "The theory is, and we have yet to prove this, that early intervention will result in a substantial difference in the outcomes regarding obesity-related diseases," such as diabetes and heart disease...

Other experts remain skeptical of gastric banding, including Allergan's Lap-Band, which commands more than two-thirds of a $300 million to $400 million market.

"I think there's a fundamental problem with putting a rigid plastic object around a moving organ. You're asking it to stay in place and not erode over a long period of time," Dr. Mary Brandt, director of the pediatric surgical program at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, told Reuters in July.

How special this is for these little guinea-piglettes.