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Washington Reaches Settlements with LA Weight Loss Program

December 27, 2005
Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna has reached settlements with operators of LA Weight Loss diet centers throughout the state resolving allegations that LA Weight Loss misrepresented program costs to get consumers to enroll, then pushed the sale of protein bars and supplements after they had signed a contract.

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The agreements are with LA Weight Loss Centers, Inc., and LA Weight Loss Franchise Company, both of Horsham, Penn., and NWM Inc., of Lake Oswego, Ore. Combined, they operate 19 diet centers in Washington.

The agreements filed in Thurston County Superior Court and Spokane County Superior Court require the businesses to reimburse up to $800,000 to LA Weight Loss customers who claim they were misled and who purchased certain products.

In addition, they must pay the state additional money to be used for consumer education and a total of $75,000 for attorneys’ fees and costs. The total amount paid for consumer education will be determined later.

"The Attorney General’s Office alleges that LA Weight Loss program operators misled consumers into enrolling in the program by misrepresenting its cost," McKenna said.

"We believe that consumers were initially told the program cost only dollars a week, there were no additional costs, and they could use their own food," he continued. "But once customers had paid hundreds of dollars to enroll, LA Weight Loss staff persistently reinforced that those customers needed to spend hundreds of dollars more on supplements and food products to successfully lose weight."

"Weight loss programs and health clubs have an ethical and legal obligation to adequately disclose details about program costs before customers sign a contract. They should also clearly explain how the program works and what is expected so that consumers can make an informed choice whether to join," McKenna said.

The agreements require LA Weight Loss diet centers to be consistent about indicating which products are or aren’t necessary or important.

In addition, the centers are prohibited from claiming that their supplements have any health or weight loss benefit unless they first have competent and reliable scientific evidence to substantiate their claims.

The Attorney General alleged that there was no such evidence to back up LA Weight Loss claims that its FB500 supplement caused customers to lose weight by trapping, blocking or otherwise absorbing dietary fat.

LA Weight Loss Franchise Company is a franchisor of the weight loss program. It has one franchisee in Washington -- NWM, which operates centers in Kennewick, Longview, Salmon Creek, Spokane, Spokane Valley, Vancouver and Yakima.

LA Weight Loss Centers, Inc., is a separate company that operates storefronts in Bellevue, Bellingham, Everett, Federal Way, Kent, Lacey, Lynnwood, Puyallup, Seattle, Silverdale, Tacoma and Tukwila.

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