Warnings against 'reckless' weight loss surgery abroad

Seven British patients who travelled to Turkey for value nonaccomplishment country died aft operations there, a BBC probe into the inclination has found.

Others person returned location with superior wellness issues aft having had gastric sleeve operations, during which much than 70% of the tummy is removed.

The operations, utilized to dainty morbid obesity, are carried retired successful the UK.

But, due to the fact that it tin instrumentality years to get 1 done the NHS, immoderate radical are looking overseas for treatment.

Social media advertizing has helped substance involvement successful travelling overseas for value nonaccomplishment country successful caller years.

Katie (not her existent name) from Belfast archetypal considered travelling to Turkey aft seeing an advert online.

Like galore others, she had watched "before and after" value nonaccomplishment videos connected societal media - the TikTok hashtag #gastric sleeve has had 292 cardinal views successful the UK successful the past 3 years.

Katie flew retired for country successful October 2021. Soon aft the procedure, she says she was successful agony, but the Turkish session told her it was conscionable trapped gas.

After flying location and "squealing" successful pain, she was rushed to infirmary with sepsis and pneumonia days later.

Katie spent astir a twelvemonth successful and retired of hospital, contracting sepsis connected six abstracted occasions. NHS doctors were forced to region her full stomach.

She says the process has near her perpetually bushed and incapable to proceed successful her occupation arsenic a enactment idiosyncratic for the elderly.

"It's the worst mistake I've ever made," she says. "It's ruined my life."

Katie says her attraction and attraction were "nothing like" the promotional worldly she saw online.

Presenter Alex Hollywell-Rolfe investigates if it's harmless to question overseas for life-changing value nonaccomplishment surgery.

The BBC has spent months investigating the trend.

British doctors accidental that they're treating an expanding fig of patients who person travelled to Turkey and returned with superior complications.

About erstwhile a week, a "very unwell" diligent arrives astatine Newcastle Airport from Turkey and is taken consecutive to hospital, according to Dr Sean Woodcock, a advisor astatine Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Ahmed Ahmed, a starring surgeon and subordinate of assembly astatine the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society, says he's treated patients returning from Turkey who person had an wholly antithetic cognition to the 1 they understood they had paid for.

There are nary records of the fig of radical who person travelled to Turkey for this benignant of treatment.

But the BBC has learned that 7 Britons person died aft having value nonaccomplishment country determination since 2019.

One of those was 25-year-old Joe Thornley. The archetypal his parents knew of his decease was erstwhile the constabulary visited their home.

Officers passed connected a telephone fig for the Turkish session - which Mick, Joe's father, rang.

"The doc conscionable turned astir and says: 'Oh helium had debased humor pressure, helium had a bosom attack.'"

After Joe's assemblage was returned to the UK, a post-mortem introspection revealed that helium had really died of interior bleeding astatine the tract of his surgery.

"We tried to ringing the doc backmost and helium conscionable wouldn't reply the phone, refused emails, everything," says Mick.

Joe's friends accidental helium told them helium had been feeling unhappy aft trying everything helium could to suffer weight. His parent says his decease was "a nightmare".

Treatment tin beryllium booked astatine immoderate clinics successful conscionable a substance of minutes by messaging implicit WhatsApp. The outgo tin beryllium arsenic small arsenic astir £2,000 ($2455) - a fraction of the £10,000 ($12,274) charged by immoderate backstage providers successful the UK.

The BBC has besides been told that immoderate radical are being accepted for country who bash not person a aesculapian request for it.

In the UK, value nonaccomplishment country is usually lone offered to idiosyncratic with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 oregon over. A person's BMI is calculated utilizing a look which involves dividing their value by their height - a steadfast BMI is considered to beryllium betwixt 20 and 25.

We contacted 27 Turkish clinics to spot if they would judge idiosyncratic for attraction who was considered to person a mean Body Mass Index (BMI) - this is considered to beryllium betwixt 20 and 25.

Six of the clinics we approached were blessed to judge idiosyncratic with a BMI of 24.5 for utmost value nonaccomplishment surgery.

Nine of the clinics who refused the attraction really past encouraged patients to enactment connected weight, to alteration them to beryllium accepted for surgery.

One said: "You request to summation 6.7kg to person sleeve surgery. I deliberation you tin easy devour immoderate nutrient and past suffer value easily." Another asked: "How soon tin you summation weight?"

Dr Ahmed says the practices are "reckless" and "unethical".

"It's appalling - I've ne'er travel crossed a concern wherever somebody's being told to devour much to enactment their value up. They should not beryllium offering immoderate benignant of country astatine a mean BMI."

The authorities says it is trialling caller treatments for obesity and recommends that those travelling to Turkey see risks and after-care needs.

Dr Ahmed says the nonaccomplishment to supply this country has near the NHS with the duplicate costs of handling wellness complications caused by obesity and costly after-care pursuing botched surgery.

The BBC has learned that the fig of value nonaccomplishment surgeries performed successful England has fallen by a 3rd from 6,818 procedures 3 years ago, to conscionable 4,409 successful 2022.

But Dr Ahmed suspects that weight-loss tourism volition proceed portion the agelong NHS waiting lists remain:

"If you person to hold truthful agelong for a attraction to marque you healthy, who's going to bash that? If you tin spend it, you're going to find different ways."

For details of organisations successful the UK, which connection proposal and enactment with assemblage representation and intelligence health, spell online to bbc.co.uk/actionline

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