Unless you’ve been living under a rock you have seen the marketing ads, billboards, and radio commercials for the last 15 months promising a thin body with the Lap-Band procedure. According to a recent article in the Beverly Hills Courier LA County officials are calling for truth in advertising for 1-800-GET-THIN the marketing arm for physicians offering the Lap-Band procedure. The FDA warned the marketing firm LLC and eight Southern California surgical centers last week that their advertising for the so-called Lap-Band procedure failed to reveal all the risks involved. The agency said they must pull the misleading ads. FDA’s concern is that these ads glamorize the Lap-Band without communicating any of the risks, said Steven Silverman, an FDA compliance director, when he announced the warning. The marketing firm claims that it is impossible to include everything in a commercial. One of the complaints many Lap-Band patients have following the procedure is that they have excessive amounts of loose skin on their bodies which is not only unattractive but can also be uncomfortable. Dr. Kim explains to patients who have lost significant weight that the excess skin in the abdominal area can be removed through an abdominoplasty procedure. He cautions his patients not to have the surgery performed until they are at a stable body weight for a minimum of three months. Patients can expect a dramatic difference once the loose and redundant skin is removed. In some cases Dr. Kim is able to also perform liposuction to improve the overall contour. Dr. Kim is committed to providing educational and informative information to patients prior to surgery. Marketing and advertisements should never be a substitute for medical information when patients are considering surgical procedures.
