20/20 to Examine Multi-Billion Dollar Weight Loss Industry Tonight

"20/20" takes a revealing look at the big business of weight-loss, which has been expanding right alongside our ever-widening waistbands. On any given day, over 100 million Americans are on a diet, spending close to $20 billion dollars annually on books, diet plans, pills, sprays, gadgets and surgeries. But if you're one of those people desperate to lose weight, the only number that matters is the one you see on the scales.

What are celebrity endorsements worth? Charles Barkley admits he was surprised he's being paid millions of dollars to lose weight. And what about the trendy, new quick fixes like feeding tubes and laparoscopic bariatric surgery - do they work? Yo-yo dieters lament how much money and time they spend, and Brian Ross investigates the deaths of five patients after lap band surgery at two clinics in California. Did they pay the ultimate price to be thin? Plus, where do the rich go to take off the pounds while still eating their chocolate and drinking their wine at a cost of $5,000 a day?

Anchored by Chris Cuomo and featuring reports from Cuomo, Ross, Deborah Roberts, Dan Harris and Nick Watt, "Losing It: The Big Fat Money Trap" airs on "20/20" on FRIDAY, MAY 11 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

David Sloan is executive producer of "20/20".