Press

EMBARGOED RELEASE: June 1, 2010

British Columbians Plead With Government To Restore Surgery Funding

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada – June 1 2010 – Human compassion has given way to indifference and apathy by the BC Liberal Government.

Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles by the government, BC’s morbidly obese patients have rallied by signing a petition
pleading for re-establishment of funding for life-saving surgery.

Recent funding cuts by the Vancouver Island Regional Health Authority (VIHA) slashed 2010 gastric bypass surgery funding by 65%. Average wait times have now ballooned to more than 4 years.

Ron Merk, Weight Loss & Surgery Support, said; “It’s pretty darn obvious that no one cares either in the government or the Vancouver
Island Regional Health Authority. For me the petition was a chance to put real stories to the faces of real people suffering because of the
funding cuts. You can’t help feeling their hurt and frustration when you read the comments in the petition. It really opens your heart to
the human pain, suffering and agony of the patients and their families.”

Here are some “real life” comments from the actual petition:

“Please don’t punish us for a disorder of health.”, “It frightens me very badly when I think of how my next 10 or so years will go.”, “No
one undertakes this risky surgery on a whim. It is a desperate last attempt.”, “Your political decisions are killing good people for no
reason!”, “I would not be alive today were it not for Weight Loss Surgery. Now I am a contributing member of society.”

All of these comments and many more can be found by going to the petition:

 http://www.blazeonline.com/wls/petition/

To make up an overall 2% budget short fall in 2010, VIHA made the deepest funding cuts to bypass bariatric surgery, resulting in a
reduction of more than half of the surgeries performed in 2009. As VIHA is the only regional health authority in BC that does bypass bariatric surgery, this short sighted budget reduction perilously impacts British Columbians all across the province.

Most morbidly obese patients are already so marginalized by the perception of society towards obesity, that many just hang their
heads, don’t speak out and just wait to die. Sadly, most of them will go through years of agony. Additionally their obesity-related diseases will worsen and contribute 10 times more in health care costs than the bypass bariatric surgery would cost the provincial health budget.

While wait times currently now exceed four years, that will be increased exponentially as new people are identified who need the
surgery.

Contact:
Ron Merk
Weight Loss & Surgery Support
http://www.blazeonline.com/wls/
ron.merk@telus.net
1249 Lyall St, Victoria BC V9A5G8
Canada
Ph: 250-995-2795