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