The Washington Post Takes a Look at Kevin Trudeau (1 Viewer)

[Chu Gai]

I was a bit disheartened to see Trudeau get off so easily during his recent appearances on Fox News, CNN, and anywhere else he managed to get on. I like this article published in the Washington Post.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

This guy is classic !



As Dabney Coleman saids so eloquently in Dragnet: Preacher, you got balls the size of grapefruits !


Thanks for posting that link. I had heard his "book" was merely a ploy for his pay web-site, but didn't have all the background info. Sad thing is how many people buy into his bunk.

 

[ShelbyB]

I can go on and on and on for hours about how Kevin Trudeau is hurting people, and literarlly killing people, with his false information. He spreads his propagadan for nothing but personal gain.

I can honestly say, he is probably killing people.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

I can go on and on and on for hours about how the medical establishment, drug industry, and the government are hurting people, and literarlly killing people, with their false information. They spreads their propagada for nothing but personal gain.

I can honestly say they are killing people.

It's too bad how many people they have bamboozled.

 

[Jim_C]

That article was actually funny to read. How any person with even a little education could believe a word this guy says is beyond me. Sad thing is, a lot of people obviously do.

Chaos eliminator

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Has anyone read the book you're all bashing?

 

[ShelbyB]

I would, but it would make me too angry, plus, I don't want to purchase it and give him any of my money.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

Chris - fair point. I have not, have you ? I do realize the inefficiencies of our current government/drug regulatory mess, but "from what I've read", Kevin Trudeau is not offering real workable solutions in the book. Instead, it appears merely a method to pump up volume on his "pay" website.

Are there workable cures in the book that are verified by multiple sources ? From the excerpts I have seen (granted they were excerpts chosen by critics of his "technique"), his info is way too vague to be taken seriously as truly effective and safe alternatives.

 

[RobertR]

Thanks so much for the link, Chu! Kudos to the Post for the story. We need more media scrutiny of these modern day snake oil salesmen, instead of accepting their undocumented claims at face value.

Actually, I thumbed through it at Costco. Nothing in it is based on documented peer-reviewed studies. That, and the Post's account of the book (very much in agreement with what I read), makes it quite clear that Trudeau is just another in a long line of smooth talking bullshit artists. It never ceases to fascinate me how some people are all ears to anyone who paints himself as some kind of crusading good guy against the supposedly "evil" institutions of government and/or business and/or the scientific establishment, and are eager to swallow what he says as a result. People should demand someone far better than this clown if they want to "expose" the medical establishment.

 

[ShelbyB]

I also read through it at Costco, just a little bit. In the one page I read at random, there were several pushes for his pay website and enough half-truths, lies, and made up BS to piss me off.

As a pharmacist, it is very easy for me to point out the lies and harmful BS, but it scares me to think of all the other people among the general public that are opting for his methods and forgoing proven, established, studied methods for treating disease.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Given his lack of a scientific background, it's not hard to see why this man is scrutinized.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Philosophically, it is not necessary to to examine the whole of a tissue of falsehoods in order to recognise it as such. In a more practical sense, the fact that modern scientific [not "scientistic"] medicine does not entirely succeed in its promise -- attributable in many cases to the prejudices and limitations of the workers in the field, rather than any real limitation of the system itself -- is not a warrant to embrace irrationality.

 

[Walt N]

I haven't, but I've read enough about it to know it's a crock of B.S. I've never stuck a paper clip in a wall socket either yet I'm convinced that too is an idea without merit.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Fascinating. So nobody has bothered to read the book, yet they are convinced it is wrong because they don't like the author.

Yet people will blindly accept what the FDA or the medical establishment tells them.

Hemingway was a drunk, so his novels are worthless. That's basically the logic some are using.

 

[RobertR]

No, you're using poor logic by using such a bad analogy. NO one said anything about Trudeau's personal habits. He makes scientific claims; therefore, he is obligated to use sound methodology to back them up. That is FAR different from decided the merits of a fictional novel. Your defense of him seems to be "gee, why should his documented previous scams have ANY effect on his credibility in this book?"

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Mr. Lockwood:

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're not making any sense.

Firstly, far from "nobody having bothered to read the book," it appears that several people have made some kind of inroads on it -- a feat of considerable temerity, considering the apparent quality of the prose.

Secondly, most here have probably never met Mr. Trudeau personally, and do not personally like him or dislike him; they may validly distrust his statements without doing so, considering that he is a convicted felon who has been barred from television for advertising in which he stated the most blatant falsehoods as truth.

Thirdly, I doubt that medical doctors and pharmacists "blindly accept" what "the establishment" and the FDA tell them -- or are you tarring them with the same black brush as these faceless entities? As for myself, I have University-level training in biology and more than a passing acquaintance with the scientific method, and I posess enough of the faculty of discernment to be able to use them to evaluate the standard of medical care which I recieve.
As for the Federal Food and Drug Administration, since its main purpose is to prevent people being poisoned by so-called drugs and food additives, it certainly tends to err on the side of caution; it is not, however, in the business of feeding people false information, or of suppressing useful therapies. My father, through his line of work, has regular contact with that agency, and can testify that, while its actions may seem obstructionist at times, it is very careful to do its job right.

Thridly, while a person's moral character and habits are no indicator of the quality of art he can produce -- indeed, some would say that a little drunkenness is an advantage in producing good novels -- felony fraud convictions, a record of false advertising, and a total lack of scientific training are germane to the question of whether an individual's statements of fact on a medical matter, particularly when couched in the form of an advertisment for further such statements, are to be trusted.
Do you really believe that there are places on Earth where people wait until they are 70 years old to have children? Fundamental human biology does not support the assertion, and my inquiries into the odd corners and statistical abberations of humanity have turned up no evidence of more than three or four such instances in the past three thousand years; and yet this is the kind of claim Mr. Trudeau has associated himself with in the past.
Do you deny the necessity of peer-reviewed scientific studies for the establishment of treatment guidelines? One of the prior respondents mentioned that he had looked in this book for such evidence, and found none.

Do not be what you are accusing others of being, the victim of your own blinde prejudices, but reason and understand.

 

[ShelbyB]

I will be more than happy to pick apart any of his claims. I can go on forever on why his claims are wrong and harmful.

When I say he is killing people, its not that he is murdering them, but rather their deaths are the results of a missed opportunity to seek effective treatment.

 

[Walt N]

On the surface the author does appear to be a lowlife huckster, however that's not the issue. He could have an impeccable pedigree yet his position would be no more valid as he makes extraordinary (ridiculous IMO) claims, and extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. The other side has very good evidence, enough to well support their claims which are less than extraordinary.

"To be open-minded is a virtue, but not so open that your brains fall out."

 

[Mark Leiter]

A proported quote from one of his web sites...."if you stare into the sun barefooted then you no longer need food."

very cool, i'll be back in a week and let you all know how it worked out.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

Mark - you'll still need some Red Stripe....