Kevin Trudeau at it again

[Ntombi]

Kevin Trudeau, Back in the F.T.C.’s Crosshairs
By Patrick J. Lyons

News today that the Federal Trade Commission is after Kevin Trudeau.

Again.

How to sum up Kevin Trudeau? One place to start might be “irrepressible.” He is a prolific infomercial marketer and the author of bestselling books like “Natural Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.” He’s evidently very good at it, making one fortune after another on the strength of his charisma, salesmanship and willingness to push the envelope with breathless, miraculous-sounding claims for his books and for earlier self-help products of various kinds, from speed-reading systems to addiction cures. In a long profile in 2005, Salon called him a “master huckster.” Writing in The New York Times the same year, Melanie Warner quoted David Bertrand, who worked for Mr. Trudeau for two years in the 1990’s, saying, “There’s no doubt in my mind that he could sell anything.'’

“Dubious” might be another appropriate adjective, and not just because of his gift for hype. As the Associated Press relates, Mr. Trudeau pleaded guilty to larceny in 1990 for depositing $80,000 in worthless checks; a year later he was convicted of credit card fraud and served time in prison. Then he was investigated for running a pyramid scheme in Illinois (he settled and paid a five-figure fine). The F.T.C. sued him in 1998 for making false and unsubstantiated claims in a host of different marketing campaigns (he settled and paid a six-figure fine), and then again in 2003 for doing the same thing with, among other things, a coral calcium pill he was extolling as a cure for cancer, multiple sclerosis and a host of other ailments (he settled and paid a seven-figure fine).

That last time around, the trade commission won a court order, accepted by Mr. Trudeau as part of the settlement, that banned him from the infomercial business except to sell books (evidently, stopping him from doing that might be unconstitutional). And even then, the court order says he must accurately represent what is in the books.

Aw, but what fun would that be?

Not enough for our Mr. Trudeau, it is now alleged. The commission accused him today of getting up to his old tricks again with his latest opus, “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.” From the A.P.:

The Federal Trade Commission, which has tangled with Trudeau several times before, said he “deceptively claimed” in three infomercials that the weight-loss plan outlined in his book is “easy to do, can be done at home, and ultimately allows readers to eat whatever they want.” The infomercials began airing in December 2006.

After purchasing the book, however, the F.T.C. alleged that consumers discover it “requires severe dieting,” daily injections of a prescription drug not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for weight loss and “lifelong dietary restrictions.”

The “weight loss cure” in the latest book is apparently one propounded in the 1950’s by Dr. Albert T. Simeons, using human chorionic gonadotrophin, a hormone found in the urine of pregnant women. It has long since been discredited by medical research. Warnings about it and about him abound on the Web, and he’s been debunked repeatedly by all sorts of news outlets, including the ABC News programs Nightline and 20/20.

And yet, his weight-loss book is No. 2 on The New York Times list of best-selling hardcover advice books this week, and No. 3 on The Wall Street Journal’s nonfiction list.

Go figure.

The only good thing I can say about the man is he's persistent.

[Lisa Marie]

Too bad Kevin Trudeau isn't a woman. He could have shared a cell with Kimmer!

[Boujie]

At least he uses his own pictures

[AriAnne]

Originally Posted by Lisa Marie

Too bad Kevin Trudeau isn't a woman. He could have shared a cell with Kimmer!

You mean a brain cell?

[Crohnie]

oy