JAMA: 2005-10-19, Vol. 294, No. 15, Author in the Room Audio Interview

Interview with David R. Flum, MD, MPH, author of Use of Early Mortality Among Medicare Beneficiaries Undergoing Bariatric Surgical Procedures, published in the October 19 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Summary Points: 1. Patients 65 years or older have a much higher risk of early death than younger patients after bariatric (obesity) surgery. 2. Already a high risk population, Medicare medically disabled patients have a higher risk of early death after bariatric (obesity) surgery is performed than previously reported. 3. Older patients of more experienced bariatric surgeons had a much lower risk of death than those older patients whose surgeons had less experience performing the surgery.