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Fig's Failure Haunts Fat-Removal Industry

Posted on: Wednesday, 5 March 2008, 06:00 CST

Tammy Bellamy spent two years undergoing dozens of LipoDissolve injections, but never got rid of the belly fat she gained giving birth to two children.

If Bellamy tries to shed the bulge again, she'll choose the pain, price and recovery of surgery versus the promises of a quick fix.

"If I was going to do it again, I would go for the tummy tuck ... there are obviously risks in surgery, but I know that works," said Bellamy, 37, who lives in Wildwood. "I don't believe anything about anything else anymore."

Bellamy's not alone. Go Fig Inc., the Maryland Heights company that made LipoDissolve nationally famous and infamous, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year amid a flurry of negative publicity. It had shut down 17 of its 18 clinics a month earlier, leaving thousands of patients looking for medical care and refunds.

LipoDissolve was a trade name used by Fig that worked its way into patients' vernacular. Similar names have been used to describe the same procedure of injecting mixtures of drugs into fat deposits with hopes of eliminating them.

Physicians performing the procedure in private practice say Fig's false promises and money problems turned off prospective patients. Unhappy patients had asked Fig for more than $4.3 million in refunds before the company filed for bankruptcy.

"It's unfortunate when one company can spoil the broth," said Dr. Vishnu Subramani, of WingHaven Medical Spa. "They were overselling and underdelivering."

The St. Louis Better Business Bureau has received more than 380 complaints and reports about Fig. Patients alleged the injections were ineffective and caused extensive swelling and pain.

"It does work better on some people than on others, that's the nature of the beast," said Dr. Amy Miller, of St. Louis Skin Solutions, which offers these treatments. "It's not going to take someone who is overweight and make them into a Barbie doll."

Patients' complaints to the Better Business Bureau also revealed improper billing practices and difficulty obtaining refunds. Many of those patients are stuck on a long list of creditors waiting for the bankruptcy courts to decide if they'll ever see a refund.

Doctors said it's easier with Fig out of the picture. There's less competition. From a marketing perspective, Fig's claims drew an unrealistic picture of LipoDissolve's risks, efficacy and costs, Miller said.

Miller said patients would come in with unrealistic expectations after hearing Fig's commercials.

"I had to kind of re-educate patients," Miller said. "The new ones coming in don't seem to have those preconceived notions."

The "lipodissolve" treatment lives on nationally and internationally as well. There are multiple efforts to do clinical trials that could eventually earn the procedure Food and Drug Administration approval.

"It isn't dead," said Dr. Patricia McGuire, who is affiliated with Parkcrest Plastic Surgery in Creve Coeur. "If you go to Europe and South America, it's still done there quite frequently."

McGuire and other plastic surgeons said patients who are not interested in LipoDissolve have other options. There's SmartLipo. It uses a laser to melt fat before liposuction. Vaser LipoSelection uses ultrasonic waves to emulsify fat. And, of course, there are the old-fashioned tummy tuck and less-invasive options.

"You want more tools in your toolbelt," said Dr. Gurpreet Padda at the Center for Regenerative Medicine in St. Louis. "If you only have a hammer in your toolbelt, the whole world looks like a nail."

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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