Chennai wellness centre botches weight loss treatment, told to pay Rs 5 lakh to woman
The electromagnetic vibration treatment caused dizziness and nausea but the therapist said it was common on the first day and assured that it would not persist
Representative image
CHENNAI: A Chennai resident, who faced health complications after undergoing weight loss treatment to conceive, was awarded Rs 5 lakh by the Chennai North District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
A Lavanya (name changed), an advocate and resident of Anna Nagar, was unable to conceive due to obesity and came across the advertisement by VLCC, a wellness and beauty centre in Aminjikarai. When she visited the centre in November 2023, she was advised to undergo weight loss treatment through electromagnetic vibration treatment, claiming it could be helpful, particularly to increase fertility rate.
Though she agreed to it, Lavanya alleged that the centre exploited her desperate need to lose weight and did not give her enough time to find out more about the rate of success and the probable risks involved in the alternative weight loss therapy.
After she developed dizziness, giddiness and nausea following the treatment, the therapist said it was common on the first day and assured that it would not persist. But when it was done on her left arm a few days later, she experienced inexorable pain. She requested to be taken to a specialty hospital situated within the vicinity immediately, and had to spend more than Rs 1 lakh towards treatment expenses for about six months. She filed a complaint with the Chetpet police, but no case was registered, she alleged.
Meanwhile, the wellness centre agreed to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation, which she deemed negligible and insignificant. Instead, Lavayna issued a legal notice seeking Rs 10 lakh. The case was later brought to the Chennai North District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
The commission headed by president D Gopinath, Kavitha Kannan and V Ramamurthy directed the centre not to run the establishment without the appropriate Certificate of Registration or licence from the competent authority under the relevant Act.
It also directed VLCC to pay Rs 5 lakh towards compensation for unfair trade practice, deficiency in service, monetary loss including medical expenses, mental agony, pain and sufferings and Rs 5,000 towards litigation cost within two months.
