My future daughter-in-law just recently had her gall bladder removed because it was not functioning and causing her chronic problems. She was told if it was not removed now, eventually it would go septic and have to be removed under emergency surgery. When it was removed it was completely flat and basically "dead". The one problem she ran into was that insurance was not cooperative, deeming it an elective surgery even though several doctors documented otherwise, so they ended up having to pay quite a bit out-of-pocket. She does feel MUCH better now that it has been removed.