Whistleblowers File Alarming Claim Against 1-800-Get Thin
Whistleblowers File Alarming Claim Against 1-800-Get Thin
LOS ANGELES (CN) - Two women who worked at medical centers affiliated with the 1-800-Get-Thin ad campaign claim the family behind the clinics contributed to the death of a patient and performed "medically unnecessary surgical procedures" to defraud insurance companies.
The two former surgical techs, Dyanne Deuel and Karla Osorio, are among 13 plaintiffs who sued 1-800-Get-Thin LLC, the Omidi family, and their chain of surgery centers, in Superior Court.
The plaintiffs make a number of alarming allegations, including that a member of the Omidi family covered up the death of a patient, Paula Rojeski.
They also claim that Omidi clinics routinely failed to sterilize surgical equipment and prepped patients for surgery in unsanitary rooms.
Five patients have died since 2009 after surgeries through 1-800-Get-Thin-affiliated clinics, the Los Angeles Times reportedon Tuesday.
The complaint states: "Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and thereon allege that defendants, Kambiz Beniamia Omidi aka Julian Omidi his younger brother, Michael Omidi, M.D., and Cindy Omidi, their mother (hereinafter referred to as the 'Omidis') have created a huge, lucrative and criminal enterprise to solicit patients for Lap Band surgeries through their 1 800 Get Thin billboards, TV, radio and print ads using commission-based illegal aliens to staff their call center, who refer patients to one of the Omidis' outpatient surgery centers.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/19/43167.htm
