A medical institute that was included in this year’s Shonky Awards has entered voluntary administration. However, the business is continuing to trade while administrators seek potential buyers.
GTC Medical, trading as the Medical Weightloss Institute (MWI), is a Sydney-based medical business that has previously been the subject of complaints to both healthcare and consumer protection bodies.
On Thursday, the company appointed administrators from Hall Chadwick Chartered Accountants, who told SmartCompany they were “continuing to trade the business of the company, whilst also seeking expressions of interest for the sale of the business”.
The business copped a “Shonky Award” this year from consumer advocacy group Choice over what it called “dodgy diet advice” and misleading practices and claims.
According to Choice, the institute’s weight loss treatments include hormones that “lead to no better weight loss results than a placebo”.
Fairfax reports the business has attracted further scrutiny as a result of former director Thomas Goyer being banned by healthcare authorities from prescribing peptide human chorionic gonadotropin. The peptide has been found to have no proven benefits for weight loss.
Goyer reportedly resigned as a director of MWI in July and administrators Hall Chadwick confirmed to SmartCompany GTC Medical has one director, Chibuzo Okereke.
On the company’s website, it outlines how it offers “tailored medical weight loss” from the MWI medical team and weight loss coach Geoff Jowett. In a description of the company’s weight loss program, Goyer is advertised as the creator of the weight loss treatments.
Fairfax reports Goyer has previously worked for the Advanced Medical Institute (AMI), a separate company that was found guilty of unconscionable conduct by the Federal Court last year after targeting “vulnerable” men with its advertising.
Previous to that, AMI had come under fire thanks to its risqué advertising, which included billboards promoting “longer lasting sex” and commercials about men suffering from premature ejaculation issues.
A Hall Chadwick spokesperson told SmartCompny the administrators will be “assessing the financial affairs of the [MWI] over the forthcoming weeks and reporting to creditors on a detailed basis”.
“This report to creditors will detail the administrators’ recommendation as to the future of the company based on their investigations,” the spokesperson said.
SmartCompany contacted MWI, AMI, and Goyer, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
Dominic Powell is a journalist at SmartCompany and a tech and music geek. When he’s not writing, you can find him reading or browsing record shops.
