Stanley K. Bernstein is a Canadian physician. Bernstein has owned and operated weight-loss clinics since 1974.
Early life and education Bernstein was raised near the Moss Park area of Toronto by Polish immigrant parents who owned a used clothing outlet called Bernstein's Second Hand Store on Queen East. Bernstein graduated from the University of Toronto in 1966 and followed this by interning at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
Career
Establishing the Dr. Bernstein Diet & Health Clinics After completing his internship, Bernstein set up a general family practice in 1967 near Gerrard and Greenwood in Toronto, and was also involved in geriatric work at Baycrest Centre. In 1972, Bernstein traveled to Las Vegas to attend a conference hosted by the American Society of Bariatric Physicians. It was at this conference where Bernstein learned about a group of physicians who were using what was called the Simeons Approach as a way to help patients achieve weight loss. In order to achieve weight loss, the Simeons Approach prescribed a very low-calorie intake and injections of a hormone called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, or hCG, a hormone produced by pregnant women to break down fat stores thought to feed the baby. Bernstein returned to Toronto and began using this knowledge to treat patients at his practice by helping them achieve a state of Ketosis. Subsequently, Bernstein opened his first dedicated weight-loss clinic at the Richmond-Adelaide Centre of Toronto in 1977 and in 1978, his second clinic in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood and his third in 1978 at Yonge and Eglinton, also in Toronto. By the early 2000s, Bernstein had 14 diet clinics in Ontario. Over the next few years, his practice expanded to Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. Around 2005, Bernstein opened his first American clinics in Virginia and Florida. As of 2010, Bernstein owned and operated 62 clinics across Canada, treating nearly 10,000 active patients. It is estimated that Bernstein's clinics have treated approximately 450,000 patients over the years, including Canadian Archbishop Marcel Gervais and comedian Mike Bullard, who appeared in company advertisements for a period of time. The clinic network ceased operations in 2025.
Use of hCG Starting in 1979, the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons warned against the use of hCG in the treatment of obesity due to the lack of scientific evidence concerning the effects of its use. The Ontario College also warned against a 500-calorie diet used in conjunction with hCG treatment, citing the treatment's risk to a patient's health. Several doctors, including Bernstein, continued to administer and use hCG in their weight-loss treatments. In 1987, the Ontario College formally banned hCG as a weight-loss treatment.
Use of vitamin B Following the ban on hCG, Bernstein discontinued using hCG injections as part of his diet program and replaced it with injections of a Vitamin B complex, the exact composition of which is a closely guarded secret. While on Bernstein's diet program, patients are administered Vitamin B injections multiple times a week and are instructed to maintain an intake of 800 to 1,500 calories per day on a strict diet regimen.
Canadian Medical Association Journal editorial In February 2009, Bernstein publicly complained that an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) concerning commercial diets unfairly targeted his clinics. CMAJ's editorial commented on commercial diet clinics and specifically their pattern of manipulating patients with false hopes and using medically unproven weight-loss techniques. As evidence of the latter, CMAJ's editorial specifically pointed out the use of Vitamin B injections. Bernstein's use of Vitamin B injections as part of his weight-loss program has met with skepticism and a lack of agreement by multiple members of the medical community.
Glenn Duffin controversy In 1988, Glenn Duffin, a thirty-one-year-old Canadian died of cardiac arrhythmia eight days after beginning Bernstein's diet program. Following Duffin's death, a jury concluded that his death was caused by stress brought about by family and financial issues and Bernstein's diet program. The jury also advised that patients using commercial weight-loss programs should be encouraged to lose no more than two pounds a week when considering a diet of 1,200 calories per day. Duffin's family filed a malpractice suit against Bernstein and was awarded $700,000 in damages in an out-of-court settlement.
Litigation against medical colleagues Bernstein has been a part of a number of litigation suits involving the proprietary secrets of his weight-loss clinics and his Vitamin B-based weight-loss program. In 2007, Bernstein brought to court Daniela Stoytcheva-Todorova and Vesselin Todorov under allegations that their weight-loss clinic, Veda Healthy Weight Loss Centre Inc., used trade secrets and confidential information belonging to Bernstein. Bernstein ended up discontinuing all claims against Todorov and Todorova. In 2009, Bernstein sought litigation against Dr. Nadia Brown under similar claims, and, following this, in 2011, Bernstein filed suit against Dr. Scott Seagrist, a former partner at two of Bernstein's clinics, and his spouse, seeking $10.5 million in damages under allegations that Seagrist had improperly used trade secrets to begin his own weight-loss clinic. Bernstein's lawsuit against Seagrist was settled in an out-of-court agreement.
Litigation against Pat Poon In September 2009, Bernstein launched a lawsuit against Pat Poon, a Canadian weight-loss doctor who operates four weight-loss clinics in the Greater Toronto Area. In the lawsuit, Bernstein argued that Poon had defamed Bernstein in Poon's book Dr. Poon's Metabolic Diet, as well as in a subsequent television show that Poon was a guest on. Dr. Poon's Metabolic Diet book has numerous breathing techniques for assisting with passing large bowel movements. After a six-year lawsuit, the judge ruled in Bernstein’s favor, awarding $10,000 to Bernstein in damages.[12] In making the final decision, the judge admitted that the trial was more than a reputational dispute, saying, “It is more about turf warfare in the competitive world of diet medicine than about reputation”.[11]
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