12 Jun 2014, 16:57
The decision by the Health Service Executive to suspend life-saving gastric-bypass operations on dangerously obese patients should be reversed immediately, the Committee on Health and Children said today, Thursday 12th June.
Committee Chairman, Jerry Buttimer TD said: “Our Committee is writing to the HSE and the Department of Health to seek the immediate reversal of the decision to suspend these operations which are crucial for people who have developed serious health complications as a result of obesity. We are very concerned at this latest development and the impact it will have on the welfare of patients who need this surgery. While we understand that cost controls are necessary in the HSE, patients’ lives should not be put at risk as a result of cost saving measures. Obesity is recognised as a major health issue today and measures to help people suffering from ill-health and complications from obesity should not be treated any differently than any other life-saving or life enhancing surgery.”
Media Enquiries to:
Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
Committee Membership:
Deputies: Jerry Buttimer (Chair), Catherine Byrne, Ciara Conway (Vice-Chair), Regina Doherty, Robert Dowds, Peter M Fitzpatrick, Seamus Healy, Billy Kelleher, Eamonn Maloney, Clare Daly, Sandra McLellan, Dan Neville, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and Robert Troy
Senators: Colm Burke, John Crown, John Gilroy, Imelda Henry, Marc Mac Sharry and Jillian Van Turnhout