The marketing firm 1-800-GET-THIN has promised to make Lap-Band surgery risks more prominent in future ads after receiving a warning letter from the FDA last week, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Both the marketing firm and eight surgery centers received warning letters from the FDA last week requesting action within 15 days. According to the Los Angeles Times report, the company wrote a letter to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas stating that new warnings had been added to the website and that the company was currently revising its advertisements on billboards, radio and in television ads.
"1-800-GET-THIN is currently changing all billboards, radio and television ads that were deemed non-compliant," 1-800-GET-THIN representative Robert Silverman wrote in the letter. "These disclosures will be in sufficient-sized font to be seen and read and will include the most significant risks. 1-800-GET-THIN will continue to work with the FDA to develop sufficient disclosures that are acceptable to the FDA."
Despite the company's promise, others remain skeptical. Attorney Alexander Robertson, who filed a false-advertising lawsuit against the company earlier this year, doubts the company will be able to produce a billboard with legible warnings.
Related Articles on Weight Loss Surgery:
American Society of Bariatric Physicians Supports FDA Warning Letters for Misleading Advertising of Lap-Band
Teenagers Unlikely to Receive Insurance Coverage for Bariatric Surgery
Dr. Leigh Montes Joins New Jersey Bariatric Center
Both the marketing firm and eight surgery centers received warning letters from the FDA last week requesting action within 15 days. According to the Los Angeles Times report, the company wrote a letter to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas stating that new warnings had been added to the website and that the company was currently revising its advertisements on billboards, radio and in television ads.
"1-800-GET-THIN is currently changing all billboards, radio and television ads that were deemed non-compliant," 1-800-GET-THIN representative Robert Silverman wrote in the letter. "These disclosures will be in sufficient-sized font to be seen and read and will include the most significant risks. 1-800-GET-THIN will continue to work with the FDA to develop sufficient disclosures that are acceptable to the FDA."
Despite the company's promise, others remain skeptical. Attorney Alexander Robertson, who filed a false-advertising lawsuit against the company earlier this year, doubts the company will be able to produce a billboard with legible warnings.
Related Articles on Weight Loss Surgery:
American Society of Bariatric Physicians Supports FDA Warning Letters for Misleading Advertising of Lap-Band
Teenagers Unlikely to Receive Insurance Coverage for Bariatric Surgery
Dr. Leigh Montes Joins New Jersey Bariatric Center