Is Trudeau A Charlatan Or Healer?

His Best-Selling Book, 'Natural Cures,' Has Caused A Controversy

(CBS/AP)  "Hundreds of thousands of letters from people that have read this book, over a million people got it so far, telling me their diabetes is cured, their acid reflux is cured, their arthritis pain has gone away," he said. "They're off the drugs. Drug companies and the FTC — this is the book that the government doesn't want you to read because I name the names, and I tell people of the alternatives to drugs and surgery."

Trudeau also advises not to see a psychiatrist and never talk to a psychologist.

"There is a great book called 'Psychiatry: The Ultimate Betrayal' — read the book," he said. "Persons can make their own decision … That's my opinion. I give you the references. You can make your own choice."

Bookstores, which pride themselves on freedom of expression, have been stocking the book, although some more reluctantly than others. While a spokeswoman for the superstore chain Borders Group Inc., said, "our primary commitment is to let customers choose what to buy," a manager at New York's Coliseum Books acknowledged that he once helped talk a customer out of buying Trudeau's book.

"We don't say anything about the book unless somebody asks. But if people ask, I'm certainly frank about it," said Coliseum's Allan Kelin, who said he discussed the book's controversial history with the customer.

At Books & Books Inc. in Coral Gables, Fla., owner Mitchell Kaplan said that when he first saw Trudeau's infomercial, "I didn't have a lot of confidence in what he was saying." Still, Kaplan keeps a few copies on hand. "I just don't think it's right not to sell it," he said.

Disputed books are common in publishing, whether the political opinions of Ann Coulter or the dietary recommendations of Robert C. Atkins. But books actually pulled from shelves are usually guilty of extensive plagiarism, such as Doris Kearns Goodwin's "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys," or deemed a fake, like "Fragments of a Childhood 1939-1948," a Holocaust memoir by Binjamin Wilkomirski.

Amy Hertz, who heads a new imprint at Doubleday that has released a couple of health books, said she was offered the manuscript for "Natural Cures," but turned it down. She was impressed by Trudeau, but not by his book.

"It's great that he's stirring up the pot, but I just worry that you can't get enough of the answers from the book. You have to subscribe to the Web site," said Hertz, publisher of Morgan Road Books.

"I feel these kinds of books work when the author is on a mission to help and money is secondary." Trudeau's book points readers to his Web site, which charges a fee.

"I sell no products, I take no advertising," Trudeau said. "We have 500 people on staff that's being put together. Obviously you need to get information out and charge a fee."

Asked if he fears that if people subscribe and decide to follow his advice that he may end up costing their lives, Trudeau said, "I'm afraid that people will take drugs like Vioxx and 150,000 people are going to die. That's the story. People are taking drugs right now, even the American Medical Association said last year, 900,000 people died from non-prescription and prescription drugs. And that's the story that nobody wants me to talk about."

David Bradford, Trudeau's attorney, referred to a chart in the book that identifies about 50 different diseases and cures; sometimes the "cure" is to go to a doctor. In one chapter, Trudeau lists vitamin E as a cure for blood clots, and infrared sauna and raw apple cider vinegar as cures for dandruff.

"He's careful to say you need to work with a licensed practitioner in certain cases. Beyond that, the thrust of the book is that you need to stop thinking about a magic patented pill," Bradford said.

Trudeau said the regulatory agencies are only acting to protect pharmaceutical companies.

"Their actions against me only show what I'm saying is true," he said.

As part of Trudeau's settlement with the FTC last year, he paid $2 million — in cash, a Mercedes-Benz and property — over an infomercial the FTC said gave misleading information.

Other products Trudeau has promoted that led to fraud charges include Exercise in a Bottle, Fat Trapper Plus and a Mega Memory System, according to the Consumer Protection Board. He also pleaded guilty to larceny in 1990 in Massachusetts after being charged with depositing $80,000 in worthless checks.

In 1991, he pleaded guilty to credit-card fraud in federal district court and was sentenced to nearly two years in prison. He also marketed multilevel distributorships for "Nutrition for Life" vitamins that generated lawsuits by at least 10 states' attorneys general in the mid-1990s. Trudeau and his partners paid at least $185,000 to settle charges that they were running an illegal pyramid scheme.