Bad Medicine: Kevin Trudeau Fraud 'Natural Cures'

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Bad Medicine: Kevin Trudeau Fraud 'Natural Cures'

During an investigative report earlier this year, I heard about the fraudulent practices by "infomercial scammer" Kevin Trudeau who published bogus health information in a book called Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About. I was very surprised when my regularly scheduled Tivo recording of a Saturday morning program was actually replaced with a half hour infomercial from this clown who makes outrageous claims about Science and medical research to foster the adoption of his book and take your money.

I'd just like to take a moment to point out that this huckster is cited by the National Council Against Health Fraud, and you should not believe his claims.

Misleading infomercial driving sales of junk book. Infomercial scammer Kevin Trudeau, who signed a court-approved consent agreement prohibiting him from selling health-related products (except publications), has continued his longstanding patters of deception by selling a book called Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About. In a frequently aired infomercial, Trudeau falsely claims that government agencies and the food and drug industries are conspiring against "natural cures" and that people who want such information should buy his book. Although the infomercial suggests that the book makes specific recommendations for specific problems, it actually does not. In the book, Trudeau claims that the FTC censored the entire chapter titled "Cures for All Diseases." However, Daniel Kaufman, the lead attorney in FTC's most recent case, told Dr. Stephen Barrett that as long as Trudeau is not promoting brand-name products, he still has the First Amendment right to claim that various methods or product ingredients are beneficial. Frequent airing of the infomercial has driven the book to the #8 position at Amazon Books, but many of the buyers are highly dissatisfied. As of February 2, 2005, more than 60% of the 188 posted reviews have characterized the book as a ripoff. Trudeau has been the target of several FTC regulatory actions and has served time in prison for credit card fraud. Infomercial Watch has posted a detailed analysis of the infomercial.

Comments

I've watched that before, when I wake up in the middle of the night with the TV going. I'm almost impressed with his audacity... I mean, I couldn't bring myself mouth such stupidity with a straight face.

comment by Roger Benningfield, posted at 7/8/05 10:10 AM

Did you know that your google ads on top of the page are advertising products associated with Kevin Trudeau? Also, my mom who is 77, bought the book Natural Cures ... She actually believed that there is a natural cure for cancer. She was so disappointed when she got the book and it did not list the cure, but referred people to his website! Another gimmick to make money, I suppose.

P.S. The following statement is from the disclaimer in the front of his book:

"...Heaven forbid someone reads these words and claims to be adversely affected by them, thus ensuring a barrage of lawsuits filed under the guise of protecting the unknowning victims who were stupid enough to read this and believe it!..."
Excerpted from: Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau.

Too bad some many people fall for this kind of thing.

comment by Elaina L. Larsen, posted at 7/12/05 5:18 PM

Elaina,

Thanks for pointing that out, although there's not much I can do about
it. While I could try to block some sites that are "associated" with
Trudeau, the sheer number of sites that qualify must be exceedingly
high.

I checked out the ownership of the sites that frequently show up in the
Google Ads for this Trudeau entry, and none of them are Trudeau or his
enterprises.

You can check yourself at: http://www.networksolutions.com/en_US/whois/index....
Trudeau's site naturalcures.com is registered in his name, so I have that as a comparison.

If these coral/calcium/whatever sites want to pay me when you click on
them, well, I have no problem with that. I urge you be very skeptical
when considering similar "natural" or "organic" products... Remember,
even cobra venom is "organic". :-)

comment by Steven Erat, posted at 7/12/05 8:32 PM

My landlady, bless her heart, believes this guy. Thank you for taking the time to put together your page, which I will print out and show her, hopefully saving her time, money, and disappointment. My landlady is no easy dupe, so this Kevin Trudeau guy must be an accomplished con artist indeed to so shrewdly exploit her desire to improve her health. I hope he goes to jail.

comment by thattherepaul, posted at 8/1/05 12:28 PM

I feel bad for any person who had hope in this book. This con plays on people's hope of being cured of a disease, and takes their money. I have no time nor patience for scum bags like Trudeau. He will get what's coming to him. May God have mercy on your soul.

comment by MP, posted at 8/10/05 6:51 PM

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Tom Cruise...

comment by Roger Benningfield, posted at 10/6/05 2:32 PM

The comment that Elaina posted was taken out of context. The actual quote was referring to the disclaimer that Trudeau claims he had to write to not be sued by people who may have adverse affects to what he has written. The disclaimer says, "Before you read this book you had better check with your medical doctor, your friends, your politicians, your priest, your rabbi, your psychic and anyone you feel is smarter than you, and see if you can get permission to read what I have to say." Obviously, this is the statement he was referring to when he said the statement that Elaina quoted.

I bought the book, and while I felt Trudeau was hostile and did not choose adequate wording for many of his abrupt statements, I do agree with many of the things he says. I know that way too many people pop pills versus trying to determine the problem and heal naturally.

My own parents take massive amounts of medication daily, and it bothers me. They were taught in our society to feel like "old age" is what makes you ache and have many physical problems. I do not believe this is true. I believe through diet, meditation, and exercise, you can cure yourself. I felt that Trudeau expressed these sentiments in his book.

Bottom line: Don't take him literally. He's a hot head with a decent message, and if he helps one person to change his/her lifestyle for the better, then good for him.

comment by Jen S., posted at 11/5/05 11:29 AM

Folks, if you're EVER watching an infomercial and the host takes a phone call, RED FLAGS SHOULD GO UP! Elder's and geriatrics are his target audiance. Easily confused and disoriented, these people think the testomonials from the infomercial phone calls are ligitimate. Half of them call the 1-800-number at the bottom of the screen hoping to talk to Kevin himself. He's arranged his newest infomercial to look like SHOP-AT-HOME or QVC. In fact the bottom right corner contains a SHOP AMERICA logo. (Not a real shopping network) His wide eyes and reassuring tone are deceptive. Don't be tricked.

comment by Elliott, posted at 12/7/05 5:44 AM

this has got to be one of the best natural cure blogs
http://naturalcures.blogspot.com

comment by Jon, posted at 12/18/05 4:25 AM

The 1/13/06 ABC news nightline segment was fantastic.

Trudeau gives his usual diatribe about Herbal cures for this and that. ( IT"S ALL SCAM TO MAKE THE DRUG COMPANIES $$ )

In the course of the interview Trudeau claims that there is 25 years of research at the University of Calgary and that there is a Herbal CURE for diabetes which is being supressed by the United States.
So the interviewer says that " we called the university of Calgary and they stated that there is absolutely no proof that there is an herbal cure for diabetes and furthermore that there has been absolutely zero research on this conducted at the University of Calgary for the last 20 years"

Trudeau replies that he is " shocked and amazed since just last week he was in an office in Connecticut and saw a stack of research articles 6 feet high and that he would forward that to their show" ( the stack never arrived )

How can somebody get away with these lies? The man is a pathological liar.

I have one question for Not-Dr Kevin : If there are cost-effective herbal cures for all of these diseases, how come people in countries with socialized medicine like Canada get Cancer and diabetes? One would think that the governments paying for these healthcare costs would want to cure these diseases as easily as possible to save money, right?

or could it be that Not-Dr Trudeau is selling snake oil?

comment by Julio, posted at 1/15/06 8:55 PM

TRUDEAU should be locked up and put out of business for good. I feel bad for the desperate people who are looking for a cure and turn to this scumbag. Tell me-- Why isn't Tammy Faye who hosted an infomercial with him cured of cancer when I heard recently that her cancer has returned. I guess Mr Trudeau didn't leave her a copy of his book. I heard recently on 20/20 that he was a mind reader too---can you read mine right now you SOB. You will get yours someday when you meet your maker---oh I forgot you never get sick. Good luck selling your book into the 23rd century. Ok now I'm depressed so I think I will go now to jump up and down on my trampoline in my white suit...Mr Trudeau says it will cure depression doing this in his book. My father always told me to never trust the French. WAKE UP AMERICA

comment by tommyboy, posted at 1/21/06 8:57 PM

Fantastic news! That loser Trudeau got nailed again. His book claimed a secret way to lose weight while eating as much as you want. Turns out the secret to his weight loss scheme is, guess what, severe dieting and exercise... DUH!!! What a moron.

U.S. alleges deception in weight-loss ads:
http://tinyurl.com/29cbhb

Infomercial star Trudeau charged with misrepresenting bestseller, violating order
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jHPA...

Complaints against Trudeau posted by Consumer Affairs
http://consumeraffairs.com/health/trudeau.html

Back in the F.T.C.’s Crosshairs
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/kevin-...

comment by Anton Crivello, posted at 9/16/07 4:50 PM

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