Two former employees of the Southern California surgery centers behind a local "1-800-GET-THIN" marketing campaign are suing the center's executives over allegations that patients are undergoing unnecessary procedures and insurance companies are billed for non-existent cases. In the lawsuit, filed Jan. 17 in Los Angeles' county court, plaintiffs Dyanne Deuel and Karla Osorio also charge that the executives covered up medical errors that led to the death of patient Paula Rojeski on Sept. 8 and overlooked sub-par reprocessing practices to cut costs. "What the slick advertising campaign doesn't disclose are the horrific and gruesome conditions that our clients allege exist at these surgery centers and the fact that patient care is sacrificed for profit," says their attorney, Alexander Robertson. The lawsuit is seeking damages from Michael and Julian Omidi, the brothers who run the chain of centers; their mother; 2 employees; 3 attorneys and 13 other companies the Omidis operate. According to published reports, at least 5 patients have died since 2009 after undergoing gastric banding weight-loss surgeries at the clinics, which have been warned by the FDA over misleading advertising.

David Bernard