Comments on: Seattle’s HCG Diet Weight Loss Center Illegally Posts Low-Carb Success Stories On Their Web Site As Their Own

By: lynn harms

lynn harms — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:39:50 +0000

There is a reason Allen Johnson, ND is in the Spokane/Kennewick area and works out of his home. There is a reason he had to leave the Seattle location. There is a reason most patients never see him, they just talk to him on the phone. There is a reason.

By: joanne

joanne — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:20:10 +0000

I have researched Dr Johnson. He is a Licensed NP in the state of WA. There have been no complaints about him. He does operate a small business out of his home in Kennewick WA. As well as in Spokane WA. He was completely professional when I saw him, however I have a friend that had a phone consultation with him and was sent the HCG injections w/o ever meeting him. We are so desperate to lose weight that we are willing to try anything….so should we blame somebody for making money off of our stupidity? Again I have just started this diet and I pray for good results. My friend lost 38lbs!!!!!!!!

Best wishes to you in your weight loss efforts, Joanne. Yes, the public can be so desperate to lose weight they’ll do anything. But these “experts” need to be more responsible in the marketing of their products and services. THANKS for reading!

–Jimmy

By: PJ

PJ — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:44:08 +0000

Well, the bottom line is, if the clinic had any genuine success stories of its own, it wouldn’t need to be using anybody else’s. That means even pictures from some former company that was not even doing THEIR protocol, so why would those testimonials have anything to do with the clinic anyway?

I am not litigious by nature Jimmy so I tend to think you want more than is reasonable here. Sometimes stuff just happens and the fact that life isn’t fair doesn’t mean there is always compensation for every wrong. They took down the pictures and apologized; they have no legal requirements beyond that. You, of course, are welcome to disparage them publicly for their past, if that’s useful.

I know nothing about the therapy. This is the first I have heard about it. Thanks, as always, for breaking news and constant updates and fascinating interviews and more on behalf of lowcarb!!

THANKS PJ! I always try to put myself in any given situation to see how I would feel and this would have royally ticked me off (well, it did anyway!). Plus the people involved are friends and I think they are worthy of more than just an “oops, we’re sorry.” Somehow that isn’t quite good enough in my book. THANKS for your kind comments, PJ! Always great to hear from you.

–Jimmy

By: Lizza

Lizza — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:20:11 +0000

Jimmy,

This was brought to our attention recently.

Let me make it clear that we did not sell wltips.com, we did not sell stories, we did not sell the pictures — to HCG or to anyone else.

Our content was used without our permission. It was Muata who emailed me about it, and when I visited the HCG site, I saw the page with our stolen content had been taken down. But looking at google’s cache of the page, I saw that they had indeed taken the pictures submitted by interviewees to show their weight loss, and that some of the text had been changed to say that the weight loss was because of HCG.

To those who generously shared their stories to the public via wltips.com, please be reassured that we did not sell, are not selling, and will not sell your interviews and photos.

Thank you,
Lizza

THANKS for the clarification, Lizza! The information about you selling the information came from Muata’s site. But this makes it even WORSE! Are you gonna sue these people or take some other kind of legal action for stealing your content? It’s the least these victims deserve for the things that have been done to them and their stories.

–Jimmy

By: Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach

Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:46:42 +0000

My story was stolen too! I cannot believe anyone would have the idjut-ness required to take brazenly slap a diet plan on someone elses’ story…especially if those someones have a high following!

I’m planning on asking for compensation as well. That’s just totally WRONG.

Barbara, you certainly deserve it. Don’t back down!

–Jimmy

By: Big Daddy D

Big Daddy D — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 02:51:08 +0000

Hey Jimmy, thanks for posting this article. I appreciate the support and am glad to see that my picture was removed from their website.

As for the reader comments about the new owner not being responsible, I strongly dissagree. When you buy a business you take on it’s liabilities. Furthermore, it is quite likely that some of the unscrupulous employees likely are still working there.

I am a bit concerned that WLTips.com has been selling our stories. When they requested an interview from me, I don’t recall any mention of their intent to sell our stories to 3rd parties. I understand that they would not have known that the stories would be mis-used. For now, I’m not planning to ask WLtips to remove my story as it brings quite a bit of traffic to my website. However, if something like this happens again then I may need to contact them.