Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 27, 1990 TAG: 9003270164
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/4 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"This subcommittee has found the medical field riddled with hucksters who ply their dubious wares and their miracle cures while government regulators sit snoozing on the sidelines," said Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Witnesses who said diet clinics caused them or their family members medical problems told their stories to the subcommittee. One woman said she had to have a gallbladder operation after rapidly losing weight through one clinic.
Wyden said he was glad to see the Federal Trade Commission going after the most outrageous of the get-thin schemes, such as diet pills said to work during sleep, starvation-binge plans or ear molds that allegedly use an acupuncture-type technique to reduce appetite.
But he said a potentially greater threat is the trend toward commercial weight-loss clinics and physician-supervised diet programs. He said the FTC is doing nothing about them.
He also criticized the agency for inaction against the "infomercial," lengthy product promotions often appearing to be documentaries or interview shows.
"The American people falsely believe they are well protected both by government and the ethic of commerce," Wyden said.
He said that, under then-President Reagan, the FTC was particularly lax about pursuing fraud in diet advertising, leading to the problem he said exists today.
Janet Steiger, named to head the FTC by President Bush, said the commission has been acting against phony weight plans since 1926, concentrating on the most egregious.
"Now we're taking a closer look at the weight-loss clinics," she said.
She advocated consumer education and said an agency task force is trying to find ways the federal government can coordinate its efforts with state governments.
"We are encouraging state criminal enforcement where it is appropriate," she said, listing several court actions taken against abusers in the 1980s.
Sherri Steinberg of Broward County, Fla., said she needed a gallbladder operation after rapidly losing 28 pounds through a popular, heavily advertised weight-loss center.
Loretta Pameijer of Miami said she paid $2,000 to a diet clinic, advertised as being supervised by a doctor, so that her 12-year-old daughter could lose 55 pounds in hopes of becoming a school cheerleader.
She said the girl lost weight, began eating normally and about a year later, after a meal at a fast-food restaurant, had a gallbladder attack that required surgery.
Pameijer said her doctor told her that diets can lead to gallbladder disease.
"I had no idea that any diet could do this," she said.
Wyden's staff said officials of major commercial weight-loss clinics would not testify to the subcommittee.
William Rush, senior vice president of Optifast, a hospital-based weight-loss program, said he asked to testify and was told he would be scheduled later.
"We think we're the good guys," he said. "We only treat patients who are 30 percent or more over their ideal body weight, and we treat obesity like a disease."
About $33 billion was spent in 1989 on diets, said a report released by the subcommittee.
"There are 65 million dieters in this country," the report said. "Sixty percent of all women are usually dieting in some form and 18 percent of all adults are constantly dieting."
by CNB