As the most prominent faces of Canada’s thriving weight-loss-surgery industry, Slimband Inc.’s wholesomely attractive models are hard to miss. The upbeat ads featuring fit and smiling men and women offer an unmistakable pitch: Lives are being transformed through worry-free treatment.
Malpractice lawsuits, accounts of former employees and a survey by the National Post, however, paint a more complicated picture of the self-described national leader in the weight-loss treatment business, raising questions about screening, preparation and post-operative care of patients who undergo surgery, performed under general anesthetic, at the clinic.
Slimband, which has branches across Canada, has attracted thousands of customers, who would face years-long wait lists in the backlogged public sector. But there are also allegations that just about anyone willing to pay the $16,000 fee can have the food-restricting “gastric band” installed — even if they’re not overweight — and that Slimband salespeople often understate the risks of a significant medical operation while exaggerating its benefits.
The company strongly refutes that it skimps on services or fails to properly screen patients, pointing to a customer-feedback survey it conducted last year in which eight of 10 respondents said they would recommend Slimband’s services to others.
“I speak to patients on a regular basis who tell me that Slimband has changed their lives in ways they never dreamed possible,” said Michael Scot-Smith, the company’s owner. “These are people who have struggled most of their lives to lose weight — diets, pills, exercise regimes — without success. They had lost hope. Slimband helped them regain it.”