Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16313

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Butler B
Fatzap Centres continue to claim to melt away weight
The Herald Sun 2009 Aug 24
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,25970998-662,00.html

Full text:

WEIGHT-loss group Fatzap Centres is continuing to make misleading claims it can “melt” fat away, 10 months after being told to stop.

Three experts have told the Herald Sun there is no evidence the treatment, which costs between $150 and $250 a session, helps people lose weight.

Fatzap can ignore the Therapeutic Goods Complaints panel ruling because it lacks enforcement powers.

And the doctor who blew the whistle on Fatzap says the government medical devices regulator does not crack down on rogue operators.

Fatzap’s website says it uses radio frequency radiation to heat fat, “causing some of the fat to “melt away”.

“It is then excreted by the body through the lymphatic system and eventually is eliminated naturally,” it says.

In October the TGC panel ruled the claims were “unverified, misleading and likely to arouse unwarranted expectations as to the effectiveness of the devices” and asked Fatzap to withdraw them.

“I can’t find any published literature other than from the company that says this is effective,” said weight-loss industry expert Dr Samantha Thomas.

The Monash University senior research fellow said the extravagant claims were typical of the weight-loss industry.

The Federal Government’s preventative health task force has recommended health loss firms be made to prove their programs work.

Fatzap’s small print advises a healthy diet and exercise.

“If you followed the things that they recommended, you probably wouldn’t have to have Fatzap anyway,” Dr Thomas said.

Psychology of weight management specialist Dr Rick Kausman said there was “no research evidence that this treatment helps people achieve a healthy weight”.

“How can something like this make a difference to the complex reasons someone might be above their healthy weight?” he said.

La Trobe University public health physician Dr Ken Harvey, who made the original complaint, said: “You might feel something’s happening, but there’s no evidence you will lose any weight as a result of using Fatzap.”

He said the Complaints Resolution Panel could only refer breaches to the Therapeutic Goods Administration but Dr Harvey said it “does nothing”.

“I’ve got a portfolio of at least 20 complaints that have ended up like that — they’ve been referred to the TGA and nothing happens,” he said.

The Herald Sun could not contact Fatzap Centres for comment.