So, whats the story with this Kevin Trudea guy?(Natural Cures)

[romantico]

I've seen his infomercials for years. MY mom really likes him, so I bought her his book at Barnes & Noble (it was 40% off costing me less than $20)Is this guy just another snake oil salesman or is he onto something? Just asking.

[Archae]

1. He's a fake. And a crook.

Afraid to say it, but you and your Mom got suckered.

What Kevin Trudeau doesn't want you to know about

The author of the bestselling "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About" claims to be a consumer advocate in the Ralph Nader mold. But the infomercial king just wants your cash.
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By Christopher Dreher

July 26, 2005 | Many a late-night channel surfer has been numbed to sleep by endless infomercials hawking ab machines, penis enlargers, psychic readings and baldness cures. But how about a 30-minute faux talk show featuring a slick "expert author" who promises natural cures for cancer, diabetes and chronic fatigue syndrome and who claims that the FDA, drug companies and food industry have withheld such cures from the public in order to keep making bigger and bigger profits?

Step right up folks, and tune in to the paranoid world of master huckster Kevin Trudeau, whose book "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About" climbed to the top spot on the New York Times bestseller list for advice titles last weekend. The Federal Trade Commission virtually banned Trudeau from the airwaves last year in an attempt to "shut down an infomercial empire that has misled American consumers for years." But by shifting his business model from selling supposed cure-all products to peddling books, which are protected by the First Amendment, Trudeau has been able to slip past federal regulators and continue to sell snake oil to the masses -- first through his infomercial and now via mainstream book retailers like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Reno R. Rollé, an executive consultant who handles U.S. retail and international distribution for "Natural Cures," says the book has sold nearly 3 million copies since the infomercial debuted in September 2004, and he sees no end in sight to its success. "No one knows where this thing is going to max out. We're just printing as many books as we can," Rollé says. "We're poised to make history here. What we're doing could revolutionize the book publishing industry."

Even before hitting the bestseller list, Trudeau, who is in his early 40s, had built a billion-dollar empire as a prolific infomercialteer, selling various health and self-improvement products under the cover of night. This despite a two-year stint in federal prison in the early '90s after pleading guilty to credit card fraud, and a 1996 tangle with the Illinois attorney general, who accused him of running a pyramid scheme while working for a health-products company called Nutrition for Life. Trudeau and a co-defendant settled that case, paying $185,000 to Illinois and seven other states; during that time, the U.S. Postal Service and Securities and Exchange Commission also investigated his business dealings.

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2005/07/29/trudeau/print.html

[mconvente]

2. and convicted criminal

He used to sell those Mega Memory tapes and stuff. And some calcium supplement crap. Until the gov't nailed his ass with a big fine and barred him from selling anything other than literature (1st Amendment Rights - freedom of press - same way World Weekly News can say aliens are gonna kill us every year). So, he sells only books now and a newsletter - that natural cures crap that is all bullshit. You got suckered is right. And to think, his book is #11 at amazon... stupid fucking "'murikans..."

[romantico]

3. Whoa!

Thanks! I got to admit some of the things he says does make sense (about the pharmacutical companies & such)but he does come off as being a bit to desperate & pushy. Thanks for the heads up!