FDA Takes Aim at 1-800-GET-THIN's Lap-Band Ads

"Let your new life begin" is one promise made in ads for 1-800-GET-THIN, a marketer of lap-band weight-loss surgery. Tragically, five California residents recently died following such procedures at 1-800-GET-THIN affiliated centers, which, along with the firm itself, now face wrongful-death and personal-injury lawsuits, as well as a class-action suit. The Food and Drug Administration this week sent warning letters to the company and its affiliates demanding that potential risks be more clearly spelled out in the outdoor, radio and TV ads, which have become ubiquitous in the L.A.