Advanced Medical Institute which sells ‘longer lasting sex’ faces premature end

EVEN Steven Seagal would struggle to save ‘Dr’ Jacov Vaisman’s Advanced Medical Institute which spruiks “longer lasting sex” for vulnerable men.

EVEN Steven Seagal would struggle to save “Dr” Jacov Vaisman’s Advanced Medical Institute from here.

By its own assessment, the company that promises “longer lasting sex” may not last much longer because of a crushing court loss that puts a check on what Australia’s top consumer cop says is among the worst behaviour he’s ever seen.

If AMI does go under, it will be missed by few people besides those it has enriched — $130 million was taken from “vulnerable” men in the two years before the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission started legal action alleging unconscionable conduct in 2010.

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No longer Above the Law ... AMI owner Jacov Vaisman with action-movie star Steven Seagal in an undated picture. Supplied

The Federal Court found in the ACCC’s favour in April last year. And last month the Full Court of the Federal Court dismissed an appeal against the decision.

This means only AMI doctors can make statements about the efficacy of its erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation drugs — while looking a would-be customer in the eye in-person or via video-link. AMI has previously said it would not be able to trade if it had to provide face-to-face consultations.

For now, AMI lives on in a small office in an office tower in Bondi Junction, Sydney. Its name is not on the door. When News Corp Australia visited and asked to speak to management about the court decision, a staff member refused and said: “We just want you to leave us alone.”

Today is the deadline for AMI to seek special leave to appeal to the High Court if it wishes to continue its fight with the ACCC. If AMI does not apply today it will need to get a time extension.

An AMI billboard above an inner Sydney church in 2008. Picture: Chris Pavlich

The Federal Court said: “There remains a continuing need, and there remains a factual foundation, for an order restraining the appellants from advertising in a manner which has the potential to exploit the vulnerable”.

Because as questionable as AMI’s advertising has been, it is nothing compared to the dubious claims its salespeople have made over the phone, such as without treatment prospective clients are at higher risk of a stroke and prostate cancer — or their penis shrinking.

Its high-pressure ploys have convinced customers ranging in age from 19 to 109 to pay $2500 to $4500 each for treatment, despite there being no clinical evidence the medication works.

Authorities raided AMI’s Sydney offices in 2010. Picture: Adam Taylor

Part of the sales pitch was the promise of a refund if the oral strips were ineffective. Left out of the pitch was that this was only possible after the customer had tried all treatment options — including self-injections into the base of the penis.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims told News Corp Australia that what AMI had been doing was “amongst the worst behaviour we have seen”.

The Federal Court ruling means Mr Vaisman — he calls himself a doctor without being registered — cannot train, supervise, counsel or terminate employees, agents or contractors for seven years.

Mr Vaisman did not respond to requests for comment.

He is “very sick” and not living at home, said a man who answered the intercom system at Mr Vaisman’s eastern suburbs apartment.