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FDA Cracks Down on Lap-Band Weight Loss Surgery Marketers

The Reporting on Health Daily Briefing

FDA Cracks Down on Lap-Band Weight Loss Surgery Marketers

Picture of Barbara Feder Ostrov
By Barbara Feder Ostrov
December 13, 2011


lap-band, william heisel, antidote, reporting on health, weight loss

Obesity:

 The FDA is cracking down on the Lap-Band marketers sponsoring those 1-800-GET-THIN billboards, warning them against playing down the risk of the weight loss surgery procedures, Scott Hensley reports for NPR's Shots blog. Antidote blogger William Heisel has reported extensively on Lap-Band marketing and its consequences.

Health Fraud: FBI agents interviewed two former employees of the Prime Healthcare hospital chain about billing practices, California Watch reports, which suggests that the California chain may be under investigation for possible fraud. California Watch has been watch-dogging the chain's unusual billing practices.

Health Insurance: New federal data show that 9.3 million adults lost their health insurance during the 2007-2009 recession, nine times more than during the 2001 recession, HealthDay reports. On the plus side: government safety net programs are increasingly helping uninsured kids.

Health Reform: The beleaguered CLASS long term care portion of the new health reform law may get a reprieve from a Republican-led repeal effort, Julian Pecquet reports for The Hill's Healthwatch blog.  

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