Reporting on 1-800-GET-THIN clinic highlights regulatory issues

Michael Hiltzik, a business columnist at the Los Angeles Times, has spent more than two years writing about the company behind 1-800-GET-THIN, advertising Lap-Band surgery in Southern California. His work has triggered a warning from the FDA, investigation from insurance regulators and, finally, action from Allergan, the maker of Lap-Bands. In this article, he discusses his work and the pushback and lawsuits he faced as a result of his reporting.