Kevin Trudeau's Process of Persuasion

I discovered recently that it isn't hard at all to find copies of all of Trudeau's "works" for zero dollars, which makes it a lot easier to research and verify what he continues to say to the public. As you might expect, not much of what he has to say is either news, or a secret, or worth your hard-earned dollars.

There is a recognizable pattern to everything Trudeau does in his efforts to collect your money in return for nothing of value:

a) Write and then print (or record, if it's an audio book) a lot of information which is already available in numerous places for free.
b) Create a lengthy infomercial using scripted actors as "interviewers", following a very carefully written series of questions.
c) Sell said books and / or recordings under the premise that this information is not readily available anywhere else, and is secret information that experts in any number of fields don't want the public to know about because it will somehow result in loss of sales of whatever product they specialize in (medical assistance, pharmaceuticals, cancer treatment, etc.)

This is the same kind of sequence that a lot of conspiracy theorists use, usually because it's easy to make a statement like "man never walked on the moon" without having to actually explain in any kind of detail why that might be the case. We can't go to the moon ourselves - at least not yet - so an entire subculture has sprung up making this and other ludicrous claims, because they know that short of an individual launching his own manned mission to the moon to verify any of these claims, they can say whatever they want. It's always easy to start spreading a conspiracy theory, because debunking it takes a lot of time and effort.

And so we often see Kevin Trudeau making a series of ridiculous and in some cases very harmful claims, all of which take a varying degree of effort to research and discover that he's not really telling the truth about most things he says. He knows this, and he's profiting from it.

It turns out that he's used that exact setup as the basis for most of his published works. He's released a series of books with the phrase "'They' Don't Want You To Know About", implying - as mentioned - that he's the only guy who will tell you this secret information, and that it is somehow harmful to one or another industry for him to release this information. The US Food and Drug Administration is frequently singled out as an organization which is trying to silence him because, he implies, he is releasing secrets that they for some reason don't want people to know about. The truth is: the FDA quite rightly wants him to stop lying to people.

The use of the term "'They' Don't Want You To Know About" is frankly an outright lie. "They" know you can already find all of this information out for yourself with or without his books, but further than that, his books make ridiculous and completely incorrect claims, especially related to the elimination of several diseases which are certainly not, at this time, "100% curable." I am specifically talking about cancer, diabetes, herpes and obesity.

Here are some outright lies he states, in no particular order.

If your body pH is alkaline, you can not get cancer.

This statement was made in the infomercial for "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About." Naturally, it's a pretty vague statement. "Body pH" refers to the amount of "potential Hydrogen" in the bloodstream. There's a great desription of this measurement here:

pH is the acronym for "Potential Hydrogen". In definition, it is the degree of concentration of hydrogen ions in a substance or solution. It is measured on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 14. Higher numbers means a substance is more alkaline in nature and there is a greater potential for absorbing more hydrogen ions. Lower numbers indicate more acidity with less potential for absorbing hydrogen ions.

Our body pH is very important because pH controls the speed of our body's biochemical reactions. It does this by controlling the speed of enzyme activity as well as the speed that electricity moves through our body.

Fortunately, thanks to the invention of the web browser, you can find ways to alter your body's pH level for free. This link very clearly describes some things you can do to regulate your pH, without making the wild claims of it curing cancer. The short answer? Eat better food (celery, cucumber, sprouts, avocados) and try to avoid bad foods (deep fried foods, processed foods, red meat, white flour, etc.)

If "they" didn't want me to find that out, why is it so easy to find?

Here's another:

If there are two miracle products on the planet that can virtually help assisting in you curing virtually every disease it is DMSO (di-methyl-sulfoxide) and hydrogen peroxide.

...

What these two products effectively do is get oxygen into your body. Nobel Prize-winning author Dr. Otto Walberg discovered that cancer and all viruses cannot live in an oxygen-rich environment. When your body pH is acidic, there is very little oxygen in your blood and in your tissues. When you flood your body with oxygen, your body pH goes from acidic to alkaline. When your body is flooded with oxygen, viruses instantly die, cancer dies, and your energy levels skyrocket. Using DMSO topically can rid a person of all types of diseases that are virus-based, from herpes, perrones disease, shingles, warts, moles, etc. Hydrogen Peroxide can be used topically and, also, taken orally to flood your body with oxygen.

That's from his book "More Natural "Cures" Revealed". Note his repeated use of the word "virtually", and the couching of his statement with terms like "help assisting you". Is it curing you or isn't it?! If you say you will describe something that "will cure you" (which he repeats in all of his infomercials) and then you turn around and say that this "can virtually help assisting you in curing virtually every disease", it begins to sound like you're saying "I will show you an apple", followed by "I may, possibly, at some unknown time in the future, potentially show you an apple-like fruit or reasonable facsimile."

You know who else used to do that? P.T. Barnum.

Check out this categorical denial of Trudeau's claims regarding DMSO and its use in the "curing" of herpes:

DMSO is a Dangerous, ineffective, un-natural and illegal therapy for the treatment of herpes.

DMSO is not an herbal medicine, vitamin or a supplement. It is a man-made solvent derived from the pulp and paer industry. Its main use is as an industrial solvent to clean heavy equipment. DMSO does have some medicinal uses, primarily for the treatment of interstitial cystitis, and to help race horses cope with the strain on their unnatural bodies.

Only pharmaceutical grade DMSO (USP) which is 99.9 pure is safe for use with humans, and it is only legal to sell or buy it with a prescription and it is only approved for human use by the FDA for use in the treatment of interstitial cystitis (an inflammation of the bladder).

That's Christopher Scipio, a Vancouver-based Homeopath / Herbalist.

Here's a comment in a forum regarding this claim:

Good lord. I assume you mean DMSO as in Di-Methyl Sulphoxide? I use this in the lab as a pigment extraction solvent and you wouldn't believe the list of nasty shit it can do to you if you accidentally spill some on you or ingest/inhale it.

And this bloke promotes it as a cure? Well kill or cure perhaps.

Later in the same thread, someone chimes in about the aforementioned "body pH" claim:

If your body pH is alkaline, you are dead. Really. pH has to be within a very very narrow range, or you die. Simple as that. Maybe you can't get cancer if you're dead, but somehow I don't think he means that.

His mention of Dr. Otto Walberg has been quoted many times by numerous other dubious sources, usually for the purposes of drumming up interest in their usually bogus product. Simply performing a search for the term Dr. Otto Walberg oxygen-rich returns several examples. In many of these results we see the use of the term "Nobel Prize winner", but no mention of how long ago that statement was made. It turns out, that was way back in 1932. As of this writing that is 78 years old. Think of how many medical claims from that long ago have either been disproven or taken completely out of context.

But most importantly, nowhere does Dr. Walberg state that Hydrogen Peroxide of DMSO should be ingested or applied topically to introduce this oxygen to battle the cancer or other viruses you're going after. It's a ridiculous juxtaposition of claims:

- A Nobel Prize winner
- Discovered that viruses can't live in Oxygen.
- [...]
- Whatever I say next must be related to those two statements, which means a Nobel prize winner must endorse it.

It's a ridiculous train of thought, but Trudeau and clearly numerous others rely on it to push ridiculous products and drain your wallet.

I strongly recommend that anyone who is willing to hand their money over to an idiot like Kevin Trudeau read this report, written by an actual cancer sufferer who did his own homework while being treated for cancer. It's easy for someone like me to throw around links to any number of pieces of research regarding cancer to try to prove to people that what Trudeau continues to produce is a batch of outright lies, but it's another when it's coming from an actual cancer patient who's been through a series of treatments.

These frauds are doing the absolute least they possibly can to care for you. They care only to sell you a medical treatment. Would you really take that over the hardworking doctors and scientists who work diligently to provide evidence that their treatment will actually treat you, or conversely that they will then abandon flawed methodology or hypothesis when they provide evidence that their treatment does not work?

I've dealt with these frauds. As a cancer patient I get all kinds of crap thrown at me. I've been told over and over and over that Vitamin C, Shark Cartilage, Laetrile, or Coral Calcium will cure my cancer. I've been told the cancer was able to form because my body is too acidic and if it were more alkali that cancer would just shrivel and die. All of that was complete bullshit mixed in with the big pharma scare tactic, and a lot of psuedo-science. None of those substances has any effect on cancer, and the acidic/ alkali argument is so unbelievably ignorant of how the human body works it's completely laughable.

And:

I will put my life in the hands of those that work on demonstratable data. I will put my life in the hands of those that will recommend course of treatment because empirical data shows us that treatment works. I will put my understanding of science and cancer to work destroying the intellectually lazy want to believe in fairy tales and simple quick cures because I KNOW why science is my best bet. This isn't faith. This isn't religion. This isn't dogmatic. This is being informed. This is understanding my disease and knowing what my options are.

The whole article is worth reading, but in those two segments he puts a very fine point on his argument: this is hogwash, and you should not waste your money on it, period.

Of course when pressed on these claims, Kevin Trudeau deflects any serious criticism of them by saying that these are merely "his opinion." He also makes sure that the first thing you read in each of his books is a lengthy disclaimer:

The author of this book is not a medical doctor. He has no formal medical training.

...

This book is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnose illness, or in any way attempt to practice medicine.

Ask yourself: Why would you trust anything this man says? Especially because he's suggesting the ingestion or application of what are arguably very dangerous substances, wouldn't your money be better spent elsewhere?

Kevin Trudeau Is A Liar!

KTIAL

Comprehensive Third-Party Research Exposes Kevin Trudeau's Scams

In researching Kevin "the liar" Trudeau and his incessant abuse of the airwaves, I have of course become aware that I'm not the only person who wants to expose his lies.

My own research is ongoing, and unfortunately it's taking longer than I would like to collate everything into a brief, readable set of posts. This is the problem with scammers like Kevin Trudeau: they make broad, sweeping statements with the goal being that unwitting consumers will immediately send their money his way. Trying to dispute a broad, sweeping statement like "I have a 100% cure for herpes" takes time and effort. Trudeau knows this. He's (literally) banking on it.

So while my own work continues, I thought I'd write a post outlining the extensive research that's been done by others.

The New York Consumer Protection Board: Cancer 'Cures' Are Empty Promises
in Kevin Trudeau's 'Natural Cures' Book
. [Aug. 2005]

This one is, in my opinion, a must read. It virtually goes through a series of the book's claims, and refutes every last one of them.

A choice quotation:

"This book is exploiting and misleading people who are searching for cures to serious illnesses," said Teresa A. Santiago, Chairperson Teresa A. Santiago. "What they discover is page after page after page of pure speculation -- not the cures for cancer and other diseases that are promised."

"From cover to cover, this book is a fraud. The front cover makes false promises about 'natural cures' that are in the book, while the back cover includes false endorsements, including one from a doctor who died three years before the book was even written," Chairperson Santiago said.

You can't get much clearer than that.

Or can you?

Scientific American: Cures and Cons: Natural scams "he" doesn't want you to know about [Mar. 2006]

If readers had purchased Trudeau's Mega Memory, perhaps they would have remembered that he spent almost two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to credit-card fraud and that the Federal Trade Commission banned Trudeau "from appearing in, producing, or disseminating future infomercials that advertise any type of product, service, or program to the public, except for truthful infomercials for informational publications. In addition, Trudeau cannot make disease or health benefits claims for any type of product, service, or program in any advertising, including print, radio, Internet, television, and direct mail solicitations, regardless of the format and duration." Trudeau had to pay $500,000 in consumer redress for his bogus infomercials and another $2 million to settle charges against him for claiming that coral calcium cures cancer (it doesn't) and that an analgesic product called Biotape permanently relieves pain (it doesn't).

Discover Blog: Here's something Kevin Trudeau wants you to know: he's contemptible. [Feb. 2010]

Outlines the most recent contempt of court charge against Trudeau, for encouraging his unfortunately duped supporters to send mass amounts of emails to Judge Robert W Gettleman, who is currently weighing an action against him for (guess what!) continuing to produce infomercials prmooting bogus products.

There are numerous news stories covering this, including this one in The Register. [Apr. 2010] There's also this story which outlines details of the emails his supporters actually sent. Naturally, Trudeau thinks this is a freedom of speech issue, completely ignoring that it's 100% illegal to attempt to influence a judge.

ABC News: John Stossel Exposes Liar Kevin Trudeau [Apr. 2007]



My favorite segment:

"...[Nightline's] Jake Tapper caught Trudeau lying about the source of his natural cure for diabetes.

Trudeau: The University of Calgary has twenty... five... years of research and I'm really glad you brought it up because diabetes can be if not completely cured and wiped out in America, dramatically reduced by this herbal combination.

Tapper: We called the University of Calgary and I'm going to read you exactly what they say... 'There have been no human studies conducted at the University of Calgary during the past 20 years on herbal remedies for diabetes.'

Trudeau: Okay: shocked and amazed, because I was just physically in an office in Connecticut yesterday where I had a stack this thick. And I'll have to send it to you.

He never did send that stack or any studies from the University of Calgary."

It's pretty clear that Kevin Trudeau has a very difficult time stating anything that isn't an outright lie, especially when pressed for details on his so-called "research."

Salon: What Kevin Trudeau doesn't want you to know [Jul. 2005]

Exposes the lengthy history of lying that Kevin Trudeau has consistently participated in dating back to the mid-90's.

Finally, an actual doctor - Dr. Michael R. Eades - chose to purchase and review Trudeau's 2005 book "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You To Know About". he doesn't have good things to say about it either, and one would assume that a doctor would know. Choice quotation:

Mr. Trudeau's book could have benefited greatly from the services of a fact checker. Had he hired one, however, the book wouldn't have been nearly so long.

Amen to that.

I'll say it again, because I continue to see his bogus infomercials still airing on a daily basis: dno't waste your money!

Kevin Trudeau is a liar.

KTIAL

Welcome to "Kevin Trudeau Is A Liar"

I have created this blog in an attempt to counter the sheer volume and frequency of lies foisted on to the public by Kevin Trudeau, a man who - despite numerous court orders to stop doing so - continues to create infomercials for a wide variety of bogus products and, more recently, a wide array of books which he claims contain health, investment and other "secrets" which (of course) "they" don't want you to know about.

As I write this (March, 2010) Mr. Trudeau is under not one but several court orders banning him from creating more infomercials, and yet we still see him on late night and Sunday afternoon TV, promoting his most recent output: "Your Wish Is Your Command", a 14-CD set which he sells for $297.00 USD.

Over the course of this blog, I will attempt to enlighten the public on just how many lies Mr. Trudeau is telling, and I'll describe in easy-to-read terms what the litany of court orders and other legal proceedings against Mr. Trudeau actually mean. Most importantly, I'll do my best to make sure you don't waste any of your money on the utter bullshit products that Kevin Trudeau insists on pushing to the public at large. I'll also link to as many free, easy-to-find alternative sources for the exact same information that Kevin Trudeau claims you can "only get" from the books and subscriptions he charges you for.

Kevin Trudeau believes that the public at large is an audience of idiots. He believes that anyone will fall for a lie, no matter how many different times or how many different ways it is re-told. I'm here to put a stop to that.

I shall remain anonymous, simply because I am just like you, an audience who is sick of hearing from this charlatan. I am not a doctor. I am not a financial advisor or investor. I have no interest in the products that Mr. Trudeau continues to push via infomercials. So why am I doing this?

Because Kevin Trudeau is a liar. Plain and simple.

Stay tuned.

KTIAL

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