Stanley K. Bernstein

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.

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. 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. 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. Duffin's family filed a malpractice suit against Bernstein and was awarded $700,000 in damages in an out-of-court settlement. 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. 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”.

Formal caution by CPSO over advertising In April 2014, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario ruled that Bernstein had repeatedly breached rules established by the College by advertising his weight-loss clinics through customer testimonials, before and after photos and medically unproven, superlative language.

In May 2014, it was reported that Bernstein was set to contest the formal caution imposed on him by the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

In February 2015, the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board dismissed a protest from Bernstein and his request that a formal caution on his use of advertising be thrown out. The appeal board found that previous investigations into the complaint that Bernstein had violated advertising rules were “adequate and reasonable”. The appeal board requested that further investigation be done into whether Bernstein was guilty of “steering” members of the public to visit doctors in his own clinics, which is a violation of rules.

Bernstein and the Waltons were legal partners in a property investment agreement, in which Bernstein financed the ventures and the Waltons were responsible for the finances, bookkeeping, accounting and filing of tax returns. By 2013, Bernstein had invested $110 million into 31 different projects through the Rose & Thistle Group.

Bernstein's receivership caused the portfolio to go into automatic default across all 31 joint entities and receivership and power of sale of the portfolio followed by Schonfeld & Associates, receivers.

In 2016, Bernstein was awarded $66.9 million in damages also by Justice Newbould via application. The Waltons asked for a trial but that request was denied by the Court.

The Waltons have communicated publicly that they "strongly disagree" with the accusations and have appealed the findings of Ontario Superior Court's ordered investigation.

Bernstein brought a motion to dismiss Trez's claim on the basis of his and his CFO James Reitan’s evidence that Trez knew about their claim in September 2013 and thus were outside of the limitation period for filing. During a mini trial, the judge did not accept the testimony of Bernstein and Reitan as credible in comparison to the evidence of Coscia. Bernstein later appealed to the Court of Appeal and lost.

Bernstein has now paid Trez money to settle the Trez litigation that alleged fraud and deceit. He paid this money pursuant to a Pierringer Agreement that mandates confidentiality of the amount paid by him. An amended Statement of Claim is being filed with the Court accordingly.

Personal life Bernstein married his second wife, Judy Bernstein, in 1992. They later divorced in 2024.

Criminal controversies In 1992, Bernstein was arrested alongside Peter Gassyt and Arnold Markowitz, who were arrested and charged in a conspiracy to murder a business colleague and a friend. In the trial that followed, both Gassyt and Markowitz were charged with a conspiracy to murder, and in 1993, the two were convicted on a sole count of conspiracy to commit murder. At the time of Bernstein's arrest, undercover officers undertook an unannounced search of Bernstein's residence, where they found $2 million in stolen goods, including 24 Rolex watches.