I'd say surgery does cure GERD. A large percentage of patients are able to stop there medications and they have a long lasting improvement of their quality of life.
Laparoscopic surgery is a good option for people that fall into two categories. They can be patients who have tried medical therapy, and have either failed or are unsatisfied with it. Or they have a complication of GERD. The former category are patients who have taken medications and they don't want to take the medication for the rest of their life, because sometimes these pills can be a burden to take every day and some people who, let's say, they have it when they are young; they are looking at 20 to 30 years of taking pills every day. And that may actually be more expensive than surgery. Or they just may not be satisfied with the results that they are getting with the therapy.