PA Attorney General Tom Corbett has really come through for the former Pure Weight Loss (formerly LA Weight Loss) members.  In a recent press release,  Corbett’s office announced it has reached a consent decree that requires the Horsham, PA based company to pay $500,000 to the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, for distribution to consumers who pre-paid for products and services that were not delivered, and another $200,000 to provide restitution to consumers who filed claims against Pure Weight Loss in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Additionally, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General is also working with authorities from the states of New York and Maryland to recover additional funds for consumers from the states.

[Read full press release here:  Pure Weight Loss to Pay $700,000 to Former Members (Weight Loss Complaints)]

Both New York and Maryland require weight loss centers to post security bonds intended to protect consumers against losses, and all complaints involving consumers from those states will be turned over to authorities in New York and Maryland as claims against those security bonds - allowing the remaining funds to be distributed to consumers from Pennsylvania and other states.

When the much-maligned Pure Weight Loss (formerly LA Weight Loss) chain abruptly closed its 400 locations nationwide in January, 2008, it left thousands of members owed hundreds of thousands in prepaid products and services.

In another story, the EEOC has won a $20 Million award against Pure Weight Loss for hiring discrimination.  Read more here:  The EEOC Celebrates $20M Victory Over Non-Existent Company (about Pure Weight Loss)

Related posts:

> PURE WEIGHT LOSS INFORMATION CENTER

HOW MUCH DOES PURE WEIGHT LOSS OWE YOU?

Pure Weight Loss (L.A. Weight Loss) to Close All 400 Locations

PURE WEIGHT LOSS CUSTOMERS: SHARE NEWS & OPINIONS HERE

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As the clock ticks down on the Bush administration’s Reign of Error, government agencies are under pressure to put points on the board before the big buzzer sounds.  It seems the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission  (EEOC) has devised a brilliant ploy for racking up last minute points:  Win huge, uncollectable judgements against extinct companies on behalf of imaginary employees.

In case you’re interested in seeing your hard-earned tax dollars at work, but don’t have time to read the latest EEOC press release (“LA WEIGHT LOSS SETTLES NATIONWIDE SEX DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT WITH EEOC”), here’s a summary:

• The EEOC has won $20 million and other “significant relief” on behalf of workers who were never hired by a company that has “ceased operations” and whose name is different, anyway.
• Thanks to this landmark victory by the EEOC, the male employees who were never hired will be entitled to $16 million in back pay for work they never performed, and will now be offered positions in the company that no longer exists.
• The no-nonsense EEOC requires that from now on the company that no longer exists must apply “numerical benchmarks” to ensure that the number of men and women who are not-hired and not-promoted to the nonexistent positions within its extinct departments is fair and equitable.
• To ensure that this nonexistent company does not discriminate against future nonexistent employees, the EEOC is requiring it to “to conduct quarterly reviews to assess attainment of its hiring goals” and, at the EEOC’s option, “to employ an outside expert to examine the hiring process to assist in achieving any unmet hiring goals.”

Congratulations to Creditor 100,001!

The EEOC has declared victory against Pure Weight Loss, which ceased operation of its 400 weight loss centers and closed its Horsham, PA headquarters in January, 2008.  The closing of Pure Weight Loss (formerly LA Weight Loss) left thousands of customers cheated out of prepaid services and left employees nationwide jobless.  With more than 100,000 creditors and liabilities at $10 million to $50 million, Pure Weight Loss filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Shortly thereafter, the Attorney General of PA sued for fraud and moved to seize both corporate and personal assets of the company and its founder, Vahan Karian.

According to the EEOC, Pure Weight Loss discriminated against male applicants, having denied them the same opportunity to receive pre-Christmas pink slips and bounced paychecks like their female cohorts.  In its battle against employment injustice, the EEOC is not fazed by a small obstacle such as the non-existence of the employer.

A Fictional Victory for Fictional Times?  Or a Nail in the LAWL Coffin?

So, is the EEOC declaring a fictional victory for these fictional times, or is their accomplishment, in actuality, much greater than that?  Did the EEOC lawsuit actually prompt the closure of Pure Weight Loss outlets earlier this year?  Did they put the final nail in a coffin perhaps worth closing for good?

The EEOC originally sued L.A. Weight Loss Centers, Inc. (LAWL) in February 2002 under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act,  alleging that the company “engaged in a pattern or practice of disparate treatment against men in its recruiting, hiring, and assignment of employees.”  On September 6, 2007, an EEOC press release announced “A federal court has ruled that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) may proceed to trial with its class sex discrimination lawsuit against L.A. Weight Loss Centers, Inc. (LAWL) on behalf of qualified male applicants nationwide.”

The judge’s decisive rejection of LAWL’s motions to dismiss the case indicated that the EEOC case, which included “discriminatory admissions by various high-level LAWL officials,” was strong.

Three months later, Pure Weight Loss announced it was closing all 400 centers nationwide and laying off all employees, male and female.

And that, dear readers, is how the EEOC helped Pure Weight Loss and its founder, Vahan Karian, provide equal opportunity to all, male and female.

The End

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Just about a year ago, a company named Pure Weight Loss (formerly known as LA Weight Loss) announced that it would be closing all 400 of its weight loss centers nationwide on January 4, 2008.  The employees of its corporate office and hundreds of centers rang in the new year unemployed, many with bounced paychecks as a bonus and the good feeling one gets knowing that the members they signed up would be getting stiffed out of $500,000 of prepaid products and services.

Pure Weight Loss  declared bankruptcy (see Pure Weight Loss Files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Protection), claiming it had In a court document, the company said it had more than 100,000 creditors. It estimated its assets at $1 million to $10 million and its liabilities at $10 million to $50 million.  It was subsequently sued (along with its founder, Vahan Karian) by the Attorney General of PA for fraud (see Pure Weight Loss Lawsuit Filed by PA Attorney General).

Now, a year later, the EEOC has declared victory on behalf of the male applicants who were deprived of the Pure Weight Loss Employment Experience.

Below, I have posted the December 2, 2008 EEOC press release in its entirety.  I will write my commentary on this historic employment coup separately, when I am finally sure that I am neither dreaming this nor have been slipped some sort of hallucinogen (by myself or others).  This is just a little too surreal:

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 2, 2008

CONTACT: Jacqueline H. McNair Regional Attorney
(215) 440-2666/2670
TTY: (215) 440-2610

Tracy Hudson Spicer
Supervisory Trial Attorney
(202) 419-0711

M. Patricia Tanner
Program Analyst
(410) 209-2721
LA WEIGHT LOSS SETTLES NATIONWIDE SEX DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT WITH EEOC

Company Refused to Hire Men into Weight Loss Counselor and Other Jobs, Agency Alleged

BALTIMORE – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it has resolved its pattern or practice sex discrimination lawsuit against LA Weight Loss Centers, Inc., (renamed Pure Weight Loss, Inc., in early 2007), for $20 million and other significant relief.

According to the EEOC’s suit (WDQ-02-CV-648), filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Pure Weight Loss had a nationwide policy of not hiring qualified males into the positions of counselor/sales, medical assistants, assistant managers, center managers, area supervisors, trainers, and other field positions. Former Area Trainer Kathy Koch was disciplined and fired in retaliation for complaining about the company’s policy of not hiring men and for interviewing male candidates, the EEOC also alleged.

Pure Weight Loss discontinued its business operations in January 2008 and filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code on January 11, 2008, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Case No. 08-10315-JKF). The bankruptcy trustee has agreed to the terms of the consent decree, which was approved by the bankruptcy court.

Refusing to hire qualified applicants because of their gender, maintaining sex-specific job classifications, and retaliating against employees who protest unlawful discriminatory practices violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Pursuant to the consent decree and as approved by the bankruptcy trustee, the EEOC will have a claim in bankruptcy court of $20 million — $16,842,656 in back pay and $3,157,344 in punitive damages — payable to men whom the EEOC determined were subjected to hiring discrimination because of their sex during the period January 1, 1997, through the entry of the decree. The portion of the settlement, if any, that the EEOC will be able to obtain through its pending bankruptcy court claim is presently unknown. Koch settled with Pure Weight Loss in November 2005.

Along with the monetary relief to the class members, the 10-year consent decree provides for significant injunctive relief. The decree applies to all Pure Weight Loss centers or to any successor resuming business operations. The decree:

• Prohibits Pure Weight Loss from discriminating against job applicants or employees because of sex and retaliating against any of its employees or applicants;

• Requires Pure Weight Loss to use an electronic applicant tracking system for each person hired and for any person who submits an application, and to provide specific information on applicants by sex and other categories defined by the EEOC; and

• Mandates that Pure Weight Loss create a discrimination complaint procedure, post its commitment to equal opportunity and a diverse workforce, and report compliance to the EEOC.

Additionally, the consent decree requires hiring of rejected male applicants and includes numerical benchmarks for hiring and/or promoting men to the positions from which they had been previously excluded; requires Pure Weight Loss to conduct quarterly reviews to assess attainment of its hiring goals; and, at the EEOC’s option, requires Pure Weight Loss to employ an outside expert to examine the hiring process to assist in achieving any unmet hiring goals.

“We brought this lawsuit to advance the legal right to a workplace free of sex discrimination and to remind employers that they must make employment decisions based on the applicant’s ability to perform the duties of the job,” said EEOC Philadelphia Regional Attorney Jacqueline McNair, whose jurisdiction includes Maryland.

“EEOC will strongly pursue employers who choose to flagrantly disregard federal law by engaging in systemic gender discrimination,” said EEOC Supervisory Trial Attorney Tracy Hudson Spicer. Added EEOC Senior Trial Attorney Ronald L. Phillips, “The EEOC’s systemic initiative was undertaken to combat company-wide discriminatory employment practices like this one.”

The EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office litigation team included EEOC attorneys Tracy Hudson Spicer, Ronald L. Phillips, Corbett Anderson and Cecile Quinlan. Applying the Commission’s national law firm model, the Baltimore team was also assisted in this case by attorneys from EEOC’s New York, Boston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Dallas, and Chicago offices.

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.

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(FranchisePick.Com)  Also read:  HOW MUCH DOES PURE WEIGHT LOSS OWE YOU?,

PURE WEIGHT LOSS CUSTOMERS: SHARE NEWS & OPINIONS HERE,

Pure Weight Loss to Close All 400 Locations

There’s a new website called Dear Vahan that invites both employee and member victims of Pure Weight Loss and/or LA Weight Loss to share a message to be shared with that company’s CEO Vahan Karian (aka Vahan Karabajakian).

This letter to Vahan Karian from a loyal employee named Sandra Ritter shows the effect that an uncaring company can have on the lives of those who built it:

Dear Vahan,
I worked for LAWL / Pure for 4 years and accepted each and every position / transfer that was offered to me. Why? I loved my job, I loved my clients and it was a wonderful feeling to know that I personally touched so many lives in a very positive way. My greatest desire was to retire from LAWL / Pure.

Feel free to check your records and you will see that not only did I bring an “enormous income” into your pockets, but I continued to build your business using my integrity, compassion and understanding for all clients and staff members.

In September of 2007, once again I accepted another promotion as Regional Asst. in the VA market. At the time of my transfer, I had been living with my elderly parents and assisted them in their daily routines. This was a huge decision for me as not only was I leaving my parents, but my children and grandchildren as well. My belief in the company was so strong that I left them behind hoping to be able to better my life and consequently their lives also. Needless to say my entire life changed because I believed in the company. I secured a 6 month lease in VA, had to purchase another vehicle due to all of the traveling involved throughout the state and I can’t forget the moving expenses I incurred.

As this market was reaching an all time high (once again, records are proof), it became my responsibility to begin closing centers. I personally phoned each and every client, moved inventory, records, etc. December 12, 2007 along with many other employees, I got the boot, however, I continued to help my managers, employees and clients get through this transition as smoothly as possible…off the clock.

I too, did not receive return calls from corp. nor did I receive a return call from you.
I was stuck in VA. During these 3 months, I was reimbursed 1/4 of my out of pocket expenses and am still due in excess of $4400. I am residing in another state and still paying monthly rent for the apartment in VA, not to mention more moving expenses.

My biggest regret is that I did such a good job for you and the company. I will most definitely continue to battle for what is mine. I hope at some point in time your conscience will destroy your greed and do what is only right and return what was not yours to each and every one of us “who believed”.

In closing, God Bless you and your family.

Read more or post your own at Dear Karian website, located at http://weightloss.franbest.com.

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franch

The Pure Weight Loss and LA Weight Loss complaints site reports rumors of LA Weight Loss centers closing:

They are closing more LA Weight Loss Centers which are managed by the LA Weight Loss Franchise Companies Corporate office (Under the Name of LATO- or LA Take Over).

By July 11th, the following centers will be closing in Kentucky:

*Elizabethtown, KY *Louisville/Hurstbourne, KY
*Springhurst, KY

They are also planning closings in other areas of the country, including:
*Butte, NE *Lincoln, NE *Bozeman, MT

Beware! If products are owed to you, get into the center immediately and request refunds!

Rita

Jane Periotti commented on an LA Weight Loss post here:

They are also closing centers in Reno Nevada and Sparks Nevada….They shut down 8 LA Weight Loss Centers in Las Vegas earlier this year. So this is 10 in this state that have folded without refunding money to clients.

Bella said:

Jackson Tn is closing

Mary added:

Conyers, GA

Alpharetta, GA

Stone Mountain, GA

WHAT DO YOU THINK? LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW.

(FranchisePick.Com)  The bankrupt Pure Weight Loss (formerly LA Weight Loss) chain and owner, Vahan Karian, who left thousands of former members and employees without hundreds of thousands of dollars in services, products, refunds and paychecks is due in court March 14.  FranchisePick.com contributor Sue wrote:

I just received a notice from Bankruptcy Court regarding the case of PWL [Pure Weight Loss]. There will be a “Meeting of Creditors” at 10 am, March 14th at the William J. Green Federal Building in Philadelphia (600 Arch St., 2nd floor conference room, 10:00 am).
I don’t know if I can make it (don’t have to attend if I file my complaint by mail) but I think it would be great to go if I could get a bunch of their “creditors” (that’s US) to be there to face this shmoe down!
Anyone want to come to Philly??

If you are owed money by Pure Weight Loss, you should file a claim form through the bankruptcy court.  Click here for Pure Weight Loss Bankruptcy information and forms.

Road Trip Idea:  Why not come to Philadelphia for the Pure Weight Loss Creditor’s Meeting on the 14th and stay over ’til St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th?  We can throw a Pure Blarney Party & I’ll teach you all the acclaimed Sean Kelly Corned Beef & Guinness Diet.  We’ll invite Vahan Karian (A fine Irish lad) along and get him to run out on the tab.  I hear Vahan sings a version of Danny Boy so sweet it could bring tears to yer glass eye.

(FranchisePick.Com) Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of comments have been posted on FranchisePick.Com by victimized Pure Weight Loss (until recently LA Weight Loss) members, some of whom lost several thousand dollars when the 400 unit chain closed abruptly last month with seemingly little regard for its members or employees. While most media attention focuses on the former group, an article posted today in The Times of Northwest Indiana also describes the plight of the Pure Weight Loss employees who were as surprised as their members at their employer’s abrupt closing.

The Times interviewed Ruth Moton, the former assistant regional manager for 11 Chicago-area stores. In September, Moton sold her house and moved to Chicago from Pennsylvania at the company’s request. She signed a lease and incurred thousands of dollars in reimbursable moving and related expenses.

Then, a few weeks before Christmas, Moton and other employees were told the chain would close January 2, 2008, and they would start the new year unemployed. Pure Weight Loss has since filed for bankruptcy protection. The company and its founder Vahan Karian are being sued by the PA Attorney General for fraud.

According to Moton, the company owes many employees. Some final paychecks bounced, and while some employees have been able to roll their 401(k)s into IRAs, “trying to get her 401(k) savings has become a ‘full-time job,’ she said.”

Moton said consumers continue to suffer. Chicago-area stores alone had almost 1,000 active customers who came in every week. Customers who were excited to sign up during promotions in the final months could be out large sums.

“A lot of my centers had open houses in October and November, a time when prices were reduced and a lot of the clients took advantage of that and bought more products that apparently (the company) didn’t even have to get to them,” Moton said.

Last month, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Pure Weight Loss and its owner Vahan Karian, also known as Vahan Karabajakian. The lawsuit alleges deceptive marketing and sales of long-term contracts for weight loss supplements, prepackaged food and weight loss counseling services.

In a statement, Corbett said the company owes more than a half-million dollars to Pennsylvania customers alone.

(FranchisePick.Com) Background: December, 2007, Pure Weight Loss (formerly LA Weight Loss) announced it was closing all its 400 centers nationwide by Jan. 4., 2008. With no notice and little explanation, Pure Weight Loss left thousands of customers without a weight loss program, without the half-million dollars they’d collectively prepaid for Pure Weight Loss services and products, and with NO information regarding the whereabouts of their confidential financial and health records, which include both credit card data, personal disclosures and blood test results.

In Part One, we asked: Is Pure Weight Loss violating the HIPAA* Federal privacy law?

FranchisePick.com commenters have shared some disturbing information about the alleged mishandling of and indifference to Pure Weight Loss members’ confidential records:

Ramone [former manager]: At my center they were just left behind .(I worked for LA Franchise, but was shut down the same time as Pure) Only current or 2007 files were boxed and sent in . I as a former manager was very concerned about this but all my regional wanted boxed and sent was current. I left 2 file cabinets full of client charts with very private info in them behind to probably be tossed into the trash by either the building manager or the next tennant. No one at the home office of the franchise I worked for seemed to care. As the manager I was very upset by this, but where could I store them , so they all sit there as I am sure is the case at most of the Pure Centers.

Curious [customer]: Were you prohibitted from shredding them or mailing them to your clients?

Ramone [former manager]: It was as if they didn’t even exist. I was given no agenda for them. When I ask what would happen to all of them, I was told someone eventualy would come and pack up everything.I think we all know this is just not going to happen.

Barb [customer]: What DOES happen to our confidential info? They have our names, ss#, address, and the Care Credit account #. This is not good.

Lynn [former manager]: Our center, here in the Chicago Market, happened to get them all boxed and dumped off at the UPS station. We boxed ALL of ours up. Let me assure you, too, it was done at our own goodwill.

There was no organization. I had no idea what was going on until the last day. We were supposed to have been sent boxes and such.. but I only received labels. I went and purchased boxes. There was a small group made up of former employee, myself and our children bundled them all and shipped them to Corporate.

Our biggest concern was that they would be left in our center for the “clean up” crews to go through. The clean up crews sent in my the leasing company.. not Pure.

rose [customer]: ...I am worried about the records - that is very bad. Those guys need to be accountable for the HIPAA laws.

Kim Matunis [customer]: How can we go about finding out where our medical records are…..I am very afraid!!

LISA [customer]: …I need my records. I am starting the process for Gastric Bypass and I need to prove I was on a program for at least 6 months. My center just abruptly closed also. It is located in a strip mall. I was thinking of finding out from one of the other businesses who would have the key to get in there and call to see if I could go in and get my folder (records)…. I am desperate to get them!!

rose [customer]: …I am going to call the strip mall landlord to see if my records and those of my friends who I referred are still there. If that does not work, I am calling the Attorney General to enforce HIPAA regulations - they took blood so it is PHI - Protected Health Information.) I own CareCall an emergency notification service I started in 1998 and I know all about HIPAA compliance…

Is Pure Weight Loss following proper procedures in handling the confidential files of thousands of members of their 400 weight loss centers? What about credit card information? Is identity theft a concern?

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE? COMMENTS WELCOME.

Also read: IS PURE WEIGHT LOSS VIOLATING HIPAA PRIVACY LAWS? (Part 1)

Pure Weight Loss Members Ask: Where Are My Confidential Records?

* Here’s a SUMMARY OF THE HIPAA PRIVACY RULE issued by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

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(FranchisePick.Com) In December, 2007, Pure Weight Loss (formerly LA Weight Loss) announced it was closing all its 400 centers nationwide by Jan. 4., 2008. With no notice and little explanation, Pure Weight Loss left thousands of customers without a weight loss program, without the half-million dollars they’d collectively prepaid for Pure Weight Loss services and products, and with NO information regarding the whereabouts of their confidential financial and health records, which include both credit card data, personal disclosures and blood test results.

The PA Attorney General is suing Pure Weight Loss and PWL CEO Vahan Karian for fraud. But is Pure Weight Loss also guilty of blatantly violating the “HIPAA” Federal privacy law?

According to the SUMMARY OF THE HIPAA PRIVACY RULE issued by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued the Privacy Rule to implement the requirement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). 1 The Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information—called “protected health information” by organizations subject to the Privacy Rule — called “covered entities,” as well as standards for individuals’ privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used…. A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to assure that individuals’ health information is properly protected…

Violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule can be substantial, especially the criminal penalties for sharing information with third parties for financial gain:

Civil Money Penalties. HHS may impose civil money penalties on a covered entity of $100 per failure to comply with a Privacy Rule requirement.88 That penalty may not exceed $25,000 per year for multiple violations of the identical Privacy Rule requirement in a calendar year. HHS may not impose a civil money penalty under specific circumstances, such as when a violation is due to reasonable cause and did not involve willful neglect and the covered entity corrected the violation within 30 days of when it knew or should have known of the violation. OCR Privacy Rule Summary 18 Last Revised 05/03

Criminal Penalties. A person who knowingly obtains or discloses individually identifiable health information in violation of HIPAA faces a fine of $50,000 and up to one-year imprisonment.89 The criminal penalties increase to $100,000 and up to five years imprisonment if the wrongful conduct involves false pretenses, and to $250,000 and up to ten years imprisonment if the wrongful conduct involves the intent to sell, transfer, or use individually identifiable health information for commercial advantage, personal gain, or or malicious harm. Criminal sanctions will be enforced by the Department of Justice.

At least one FranchisePick.com commenter mentioned that since blood tests were involved, the information in the Pure Weight Loss files would be subject to HIPAA privacy rules.

Did Pure Weight Loss follow proper procedures in handling the confidential files of thousands of members of their 400 weight loss centers?

Leave your comments below because that’s what our readers will answer in: IS PURE WEIGHT LOSS VIOLATING HIPAA PRIVACY LAWS? (Part 2)

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE? COMMENTS WELCOME.

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(FranchisePick.Com)  Visit Pure Weight Loss / LA Weight Loss Complaint site  DEAR VAHAN.
Also read: PURE WEIGHT LOSS CUSTOMERS: SHARE NEWS & OPINIONS HERE

Source: Philadelphia Daily News

…Pure Weight Loss, Inc, formerly LA Weight Loss, announced on Wednesday that it would close all of its more than 400 locations nationwide effective Jan. 4.

A statement released by the company on Wednesday said, “Fierce competition from the internet, the introduction of Alli, the over-the-counter weight loss pill, and other commercial diet programs, combined with a difficult economic environment, have forced us to take this action.”

A spokesperson for Pure Weight Loss did not know if the Horsham-based company was filing for bankruptcy…

* * * * *

The diet pill, Alli, endorsed and sold by Pure Weight Loss, has been the target of criticism since the Food and Drug Administration approved it as an over-the-counter version of the prescription weight loss pill orlistat in February. Alli went on sale in July.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of the Public Citizen’s health research group, has spoken out against the drug, both in its prescription and over the counter forms and has testified to the FDA about its harmful effects.

Wolfe said the drug can cause pre-cancerous lesions of the colon and said, like many diet drugs, after an inital spike, sales probably went down.

Pure Weight Loss is currently involved in a class action lawsuit in Tennesse over false claims about its weight loss program and costs. In 2002, the company agreed to pay the State of New York $100,000 plus $10,000 in legal costs in a settlement over falsely advertising the cost of its program.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT PURE WEIGHT LOSS (FORMERLY L.A. WEIGHT LOSS)?

YOUR COMMENTS INVITED.

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