Industry giants push obesity surgery

Medical-device makers, venture capitalists and surgeons are racing to turn gastric banding--a once-controversial weight-loss procedure--into the next big thing in elective surgery. In gastric banding, a silicone band is wrapped around the upper stomach to restrict food intake. A number of recent studies suggest that gastric banding is safer than gastric bypass. Improvements in surgical techniques and follow-up care have helped the surgery become the dominant weight-loss operation in Europe and Australia.