Dublin doctors halt weight-loss surgery after two patients die

DUBLIN - Two surgeons have temporarily suspended using a common weight-loss procedure known as gastric bypass surgery after two of their patients died from complications. <br> <br> Sherry Virginia Hardin of Swainsboro and Tom Batey of Dublin died within two weeks of each other after having the operations at Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin, east of Macon. <br> <br> Doctors Michael Ash and John Souza performed both operations. Gastric bypass surgery is a common operation that aids weight loss by shrinking the stomach from the size of a football to the size of an egg. <br> <br> The smaller stomach pouch is created by stitching the part of the stomach closed. A part of the small intestine is bypassed to reduce nutrient absorption, causing the patient to lose weight. <br> <br> Ty Powell, who employed Hardin at his Vidalia onion farm, said 50-year-old Hardin complained of problems from her November 25th surgery last week when the sealed-off portion of her stomach began to fill with gas. <br> <br> Hardin died Monday, less than two weeks after Batey, former principal of Dublin Middle School, died of similar complications. <br> <br> Souza, who performed both surgeries with Ash, told The Macon Telegraph they had 150 previous operations with no deaths and few serious complications. He said all patients are warned that gastric bypass is major surgery that carries risks including death. <br> <br> Hospital administrator Jim Raner said the surgeons have voluntarily suspended the operations this week and will review the procedures. <br> <br> Nationwide, about one in 200 people who have the surgery die as a result of complications. One study has shown that severely obese people who do not have the surgery have a death rate 4.5 times higher than those who do.