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An alarming variety of bariatric surgeons are contemplating shutting their clinics due to skyrocketing insurance coverage prices and rising malpractice claims.
Bariatric surgical procedure is the simplest, sturdy and cost-effective weight-loss therapy for extreme weight problems, however new analysis reveals the business is below menace in Australia due to hovering indemnity insurance coverage premiums.
A survey by the College of Notre Dame Australia, Flinders College and the Australian and New Zealand Metabolic and Weight problems Surgical Society discovered 37% of bariatric surgeons have been contemplating quitting the observe due to the monetary burden.
The survey, revealed within the ANZ Journal of Surgical procedure, discovered skilled indemnity insurance coverage premiums had risen by 35% prior to now 12 months, with a median annual value of about $70,000. Some surgeons have been paying as much as $500,000 per 12 months.
Notre Dame researcher and bariatric surgeon Nicholas Williams stated insurance coverage prices have been driving surgeons out of the business and lowering entry to a life-saving therapy.
This was notably the case in rural and regional areas and Indigenous communities, the place charges of clinically extreme weight problems have been larger and specialists have been tougher to entry.
“Obesity is probably the most important public health issue of our time,” Affiliate Professor Williams stated.
“New drugs similar to Ozempic will likely be a giant a part of the longer term panorama of weight problems care, however surgical procedure remains to be the gold commonplace as a result of the drugs are costly, they’re exhausting to entry they usually must be taken lifelong, which is usually not appreciated.
“Weight problems disproportionately impacts decrease socio-economic teams, regional and distant communities and Indigenous populations.
“These are the patients with the greatest need for access to obesity care, and if surgeries are not available publicly then we at least need them to be available as cost effectively and as widely as possible in the private sector.”
In Australia, 97% of bariatric surgical procedure operations are carried out within the non-public sector, and personal surgeons should have skilled indemnity insurance coverage to observe.
In line with the survey, 41% of surgeons reported a minimum of one bariatric-related malpractice declare throughout their profession, however solely 2% of these claims went to trial.
Affiliate Professor Williams stated he believed regulation reform was wanted to discourage opportunistic litigation and repair what he described as a “broken” medical negligence system.
Extra info:
Jacob Chisholm et al, Skilled indemnity insurance coverage charges for metabolic bariatric surgeons in Australia: survey outcomes, ANZ Journal of Surgical procedure (2025). DOI: 10.1111/ans.70087
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Skyrocketing insurance coverage prices threaten life-saving weight reduction surgical procedure (2025, Could 19)
retrieved 19 Could 2025
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