That Happened!

New York - Dr. Craig Alan Bittner of Beverly Hills Liposculpture claimed to have used fat extracted from patients at his clinic to power his own Ford Explorer and his girlfriend’s Lincoln Navigator.

On his website lipodiesel.com he wrote: “The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel–and I have more fat than I can use,” and “Not only do they get to lose their love handles or chubby belly but they get to take part in saving the Earth.”

However, the lipodiesel.com website is no longer online. It was taken down after investigations were opened by the California Department of Public Health in response to complaints from patients of Beverly Hills Liposculpture.

A note from Bittner on the clinic’s website says that as of Dec. 23, the Rodeo Drive practice is closed and that Bittner has moved to South America to volunteer at a small clinic where he states he “…can help those most in need.”

Attorney Andrew Besser, represents three of the patients who claim that they were disfigured when Bittner allowed his girlfriend and an assistant to perform liposuction surgery on them, even though neither were licensed to perform the procedure.

While Bittner himself holds a license to do liposuction he is board certified as a radiologist and not as a cosmetic surgeon. Even so, Bittner claims to have treated nearly 7000 liposculpture patients over the course of his 10 year practice with “…not one single serious complication or infection.” Besser claims that Bittner has fled the country in response to his patients complaints to the California State Medical Board and the several pending lawsuits against him and his practice. Bittner could also be facing public health charges if he did convert liposuction fat from his clinic’s practice into motor fuel since this would not be considered an approved method of treating biomedical waste.

There is precedent for converting fats into a fuel similar to petroleum diesel, called biodiesel. Tyson Foods is considering running their trucks on chicken fat,and biodiesel company Nova Biosource is mixing animal fat and soybean oil to manufacture the fuel. There is even precedent for using human fat for fuel. In 2006 Norwegian business man Lauri Venoy signed a contract with Jackson Memorial Hospital of Miami Florida to supply his company with 3000 gallons of liposuction waste per week for conversion into biodiesel, which Venoy says should yield about 2600 gallons of fuel.

If Dr. Bittner’s claim to have used liposuction waste to make fuel for SUV’s belonging to himself and his girlfriend is false it wouldn’t be the first time. In 2003 Bittner was CEO for AmeriScan, a radiology clinic specializing in whole-body scans. AmeriScan was sued by the State of California and the California Medical Board for making false advertising claims. There is also some basis for doubting the veracity of Bittner’s claim to running his girlfriend’s Lincoln Navigator on biodiesel since Lincoln does not even make a diesel version of the SUV.