You may have seen billboards that say 1-800-GET THIN on them. The idea is that if you are interested in getting Lap-Band surgery, you would call that number. The company has been sued for false advertising. Their insurance company, National Fire & Marine Insurance Co., have refused to pay to defend them, because the insurer feels that the surgery company falsely stated information on an application.
The company behind the billboards that say 1-800-GET THIN is, essentially, a weight loss company. The way they help people to lose weight is to provide them with Lap-Band surgery. They are affiliated with Top Surgeons, and also with Beverly Hills Surgery Center.
Lap-Band surgery is a shortened name for Laparoscopic Obesity Surgery. This is something that is designed to help an obese person lose weight. Surgery is done to make a person’s stomach much smaller than it would normally be. By “stomach” I mean the actual organ, and not the persons abdomen, waistline, or belly.
A gastric band is placed around the upper part of the stomach, and cinched tight. This forces the person’s body to be unable to intake the amount of food that the person could previously eat at one time. Some people find this form of surgery has helped them to lose weight.
However, one thing to keep in mind is that every surgery comes with a certain amount of risk. This is true of Lap-Band surgery as well. A class action law suit was filed by relatives of two women from Southern California who each died just a few days after they received lap-band surgery from clinics that are affiliated with 1-800-GET THIN. The lawsuit involves claims of false advertising, and it, or other lawsuits may involve claims of malpractice.
It is not uncommon for businesses to purchase some form of liability insurance in case they get sued by a customer. The 1-800-GET THIN company had a insurance policy with National Fire & Marine Insurance Co.. In this case, however, the insurer has decided not to cover the legal expenses of the company.
The insurer denied coverage because they say that the companies associated with 1-800 GET THIN falsely stated some information on their insurance application. The insurer said that the application asked the Lap-Band surgery company to verify that none of their affiliated physicians had been “restricted, suspended or revoked within the last five years”.
It turns out that at least five of the physicians that had been, or were still, associated with the companies had actually been disciplined by the Medical Board of California. One person, Dr. Michael Omidi, had his license revoked by the medical board of the Beverly Hills Surgery Center where he was working in 2008. It was later changed to a three year probation after the doctor acknowledged that he violated a state law when he preformed Lap-Band surgery on three patients at a surgical facility that was unaccredited.
Image by Leah Smith on Flickr