Sham surgery trials have shown that some of our most popular surgeries are themselves shams. Intragastric balloons “arrived with much fanfare in the 1980s,” since they could be implanted into the stomach and inflated with air or water to fill much of the space. Unfortunately, surgical devices are often brought to the market before there is adequate evidence of effectiveness and safety, and the balloons were no exception. The “gastric bubble” had its bubble burst when a study at the Mayo Clinic found that 8 out of 10 balloons “spontaneously deflated,” which is potentially dangerous because they...

16 hours ago

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