Most recently, Paula Rojeski died after undergoing Lap-Band surgery at an outpatient center. She was the fifth person to die in three years after undergoing the elective procedure at one of the outpatient surgery centers connected to the "1-800-GET-THIN" marketing firm. As the law currently stands, these centers have very little oversight. When their accreditation is revoked for unsafe conditions, they can simply apply to be accredited through a different private agency.

State Senator Curren Price Jr. (D-Inglewood) has proposed a bill which would give these private accreditation agencies new authority to stop unsafe centers from jumping from one agency to another with no documentation of their poor safety record. The state medical board would be obligated to document unsafe centers and this information would be available to the public.

This is a bill that will save lives.