After Five Fatalities, FDA Warns Clinics Promising Quick & Easy Lap-Band Surgery

The FDA is finally taking action against the clinics behind the 1-800-GET-THIN ads running in Southern California, where five people died due to complications from Lap-Band surgery. The facilities fall into a “regulatory no man’s land,” but about a year ago the L.A. County Department of Public Health asked the FDA to look into the advertising campaign. Today the FDA said that the 1-800-GET-THIN adds don’t provide the required informations about the risks and side effects of Lap-Band surgery. While the ads and billboards prominently feature slogans like “Let your new life begin,” all the important details about possibly dying from the procedure “appear so small as to render the information illegible.” The companies now have 15 days to respond and explain how they plan to stop being so damn shady.