FTC Challenging Kevin Trudeau and The Weight Loss Cure
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-070914-trudeau-ftc,0,7989633.story
chicagotribune.com
FTC goes after infomercial star, Trudeau’s diet book
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
AP Business Writer
11:32 AM CDT, September 14, 2007
Federal regulators on Friday charged best-selling author and infomercial
star Kevin Trudeau with misrepresenting the contents of his latest book,
“The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.”
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 FTC 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 book ranks third on the Wall Street Journal’s best seller list this
week, and 19th on USA Today’s list.
The commission charged he has violated a 2004 court order that
prohibited him from using infomercials to sell any product or service
other than books and required that he not misrepresent the content of
those books.
Despite no formal medical training and several criminal convictions,
Trudeau has sold millions of books under titles such as “Natural Cures
`They’ Don’t Want You to Know About” and “More Natural Cures Revealed.”
He pleaded guilty to larceny in 1990 in Massachusetts after being
charged with depositing $80,000 in worthless checks. The following year,
he pleaded guilty to credit-card fraud in federal district court and was
sentenced to nearly two years in prison. The charges involved the use of
credit-card numbers from customers of a memory-improvement course
Trudeau was promoting.
The FTC first sued Trudeau in 1998, charging that he made false and
unsubstantiated claims in infomercials for hair growth, memory and
weight-loss products.
In 2003, the agency sued Trudeau for deceptively marketing a calcium
product as a cancer cure and a product called Biotape as a pain reliever.
Trudeau paid $2 million in 2004 to settle the FTC’s charges and agreed
to comply with a court order banning him from infomercials except those
that accurately promote books.
In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
Illinois, the FTC alleged that Trudeau has violated that court order.
A lawyer for Trudeau was not immediately available to comment.
Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press
————————————————————-
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0323064.shtm - links to the FTC’s actions
since 2003
Present action
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/09/trudeau.shtm
For Release: September 14, 2007
FTC: Marketer Kevin Trudeau Violated Prior Court Order
Charges Him with Misrepresenting Contents of Book
The Federal Trade Commission has charged Kevin Trudeau with violating a
court order by allegedly misrepresenting the contents of his book, “The
Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About,” in several
infomercials. During the ads, Trudeau claims that the weight loss plan
outlined in the book is easy to do, can be done at home, and ultimately
allows readers to eat whatever they want. However, when consumers
purchase the book, they find it describes a complex, grueling plan that
requires severe dieting, daily injections of a prescription drug that
consumers cannot easily get, and lifelong dietary restrictions. In a
2004 order settling FTC charges that he had falsely claimed that his
calcium product could cure cancer and other serious diseases, and that a
purported analgesic called Biotape could permanently cure or relieve
severe pain, Trudeau was banned from using infomercials to sell any
product, service, or program. The ban contained a narrow exemption for
infomercials for books and other publications, but specifically required
that Trudeau not misrepresent the content of the books. The FTC is now
charging that he violated that narrow exemption.
Kevin Trudeau is a well-known marketer who has appeared in or produced
more than 100 infomercials. To sell his newest book, which outlines a
weight-loss plan, he appeared in three infomercials, which were widely
disseminated. During the ads, Trudeau describes the weight-loss plan
that the book is about, stating that:
“…it’s easy to do, you can do it at home…”
“I can attest, it was the easiest, simplest, most effective thing I’ve
ever done.”
“And when you’re done with the protocol, eat whatever you want and you
don’t gain the weight back.”
“I can eat whatever I want now, anything and as much as I want any time
I want. No restrictions now. And the weight’s not coming back. You don’t
gain the weight back.”
According to the FTC, when consumers buy and read the book, they find it
actually describes a complicated, expensive system involving daily
injections, specialized cleanses and supplements, and severe food
restrictions, followed by a “fourth phase” of the protocol, which
requires dietary restrictions and never ends. The FTC alleged that
Trudeau deceptively claimed that the book establishes a weight-loss
protocol that is “easy” to follow and that once the protocol ends,
consumers can eat what they want without regaining weight.
In court documents, the FTC pointed out that one required phase of the
protocol requires that consumers get daily injections of a prescription
drug that is not approved by the United States Food and Drug
Administration for weight loss. To obtain the drug, a consumer would
need to either go overseas, or find a doctor in the U.S. who will
prescribe the drug for off-label use. The injections must be
intramuscular, and Trudeau even instructs the dieter to do the
injections under the care of a licensed physician. Besides the
injections, this phase also requires a 500 calorie/day diet for 21 to 45
days, and the consumer cannot use any medicines, including
over-the-counter and prescription drugs, most cosmetics, and no creams,
lotions, or moisturizers.
During the required third phase, the consumer can eat as much as they
want for 21 days, but the foods must be only 100% organic, with no
sweeteners (natural or artificial), no starches (bread, pasta, potatoes,
white flour, etc.), no nitrites, and no trans fats. In addition, the
book strongly recommends that consumers get massages, take saunas often,
take homeopathic human growth hormone, and limit their exposure to air
conditioning and fluorescent lighting.
The “highly recommended” first phase includes getting 15 “colonics” from
a licensed colon therapist during a 30-day period, walking outside for
one continuous hour each day, taking saunas as often as possible, eating
six times a day, eating only organic meat and dairy, and eating 100
grams of organic meat right before bed.
Finally, the FTC’s court documents state that the protocol is never
actually completed. Consumers must follow the fourth phase of the
protocol for the rest of their lives, with severe dietary prohibitions,
including: no “brand name” food; no fast food, regional, or national
chain restaurants; no food that is not 100% organic; no super highly
refined sugars; no artificial sweeteners; no trans fats; no monosodium
glutamate; no food with nitrites; no meat, poultry, or dairy that is not
100% organic; no farm-raised fish; and no food cooked in a microwave.
The FTC first sued Trudeau in 1998, alleging that he made false and
unsubstantiated claims for hair growth, memory, and weight loss products
sold through infomercials. In 2003, the FTC challenged Trudeau’s
marketing of Coral Calcium Supreme and Biotape, a purported pain-relief
product. To settle the FTC’s charges, in 2004 Trudeau paid $2 million
and agreed to a court order banning him from infomercials, with a narrow
exemption for infomercials for books and other publications that
specifically required that Trudeau not misrepresent the contents of the
books or publications. The contempt action announced today alleges that
Trudeau violated that court order by deceptively claiming in his
infomercials that the book being advertised establishes a weight-loss
protocol that is “easy” to follow, and that once the protocol ends,
consumers can eat what they want without regaining weight.
The contempt action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and
unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop,
and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, click
http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.shtm or call 1-877-382-4357. The FTC
enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related
complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available
to more than 1,600 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the
U.S. and abroad. For free information on a variety of consumer topics,
click http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm.
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