Cancer Cover-Up News & Views

Monthly Newsletter | April 2002

Who Is The Real Snake Oil Salesman?
(part 2)

The biased, disingenuous and misleading character of the testimony presented is exemplified by the presentation of Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran. It is also of particular interest to the author as it concerns the case Mr. Curran brought against Neal Deoul regarding the marketing of two dietary supplements, a highly concentrated form of aloe vera and the mineral cesium.

In order to fully appreciate Mr. Curran’s duplicity, it is important to understand certain essential facts.

1)      Aloe vera has been employed in medicine since Homeric times. Indeed, Alexander the Great directed his troops to carry aloe vera with them and today it is a common ingredient in many balms and lotions. The healing and immune system boosting properties of aloe vera are well established in science and widely recognized by the medical community.

2)      Cesium is a naturally occurring mineral with the number 55 on the periodic table of elements. It is the most alkaline mineral so far discovered. Also, the form of cesium discussed here should not be confused with its radioactive isotope, a substance commonly used as a “marker” for various forms of intravenous medical therapies.

3)      Authority to regulate dietary supplements is vested in the Food and Drug Administration. Authority to regulate advertising for products in interstate commerce is the responsibility of the Federal Trade Commission. Neither of these agencies found fault with the products or advertising of the firm, T-Up, that was marketing the aloe vera and cesium products.

4)      Neal Deoul never profited from the sale of either aloe vera or cesium. Indeed, he suffered significant financial losses from his efforts to make these products available to the public.

5)      Neal’s case was not brought in a court of law where it could be heard by a jury of his peers. Rather, it was brought before an administrative tribunal where the conventional constitutional guarantees and rules of evidence do not apply.

6)      There were no consumer complaints in the State of Maryland at the time Curran brought his action.

 Yet, Curran’s testimony fails to reflect any of these fundamental facts. Rather, it is a compendium of half-truths, misstatements and outright lies. In his ongoing effort to discredit the successful use of alternatives within his State, Curran clearly goes beyond the pale. A careful analysis of Curran’s statement before the Committee makes clear the truth of this assertion.

In paragraph 1, of his prepared testimony Curran states:

“… Because many of the product benefits that were claimed by the seller, including that their products were powerful immune boosters, were false and as a result, consumers were severely harmed.”

The hearing record, however, does not support this assertion. Not one single witness ever contested the fact that the Aloe (one product not products) was a powerful immune booster – and, further, no consumers were ever shown to be “severely harmed” by the oral Aloe.

In paragraph 2, Curran makes one of his most egregious misstatements:

"This case, Consumer Protection Division v. T-Up, Inc., involved the sale of two products, a concentrated aloe product called "T-Up" and a mineral called cesium chloride, which were offered and sold to consumers to both generally improve immune function and to treat cancer, AIDS and other diseases. Although most of the sales of these products were for oral consumption, the company also sold products for intravenous administration at a cost of $12,000 to $20,000. The company's claims that their products would help consumers were grossly misleading, if not false, because they were unsubstantiated. Similarly, the company's claims concerning the safety and quality of their products were baseless. Many of the consumers who purchased these products were particularly vulnerable because they were facing life threatening diseases such as cancer or AIDS. They paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for these products hoping to be cured, and instead received little or no benefit, and in some cases were actually harmed. Moreover, some consumers chose these products over other more proven treatments or therapies that might have otherwise helped them."

This passage constitutes a classic deception by the Attorney General. It was a doctor in Virginia who charged $12,000 to $20,000 for the two to three week course of treatment and who performed the intravenous administration.  The company T-Up, Inc. only provided the Aloe to the doctor at a price comparable to the oral aloe – i.e. a bit more than $75 per bottle.  Very few people ever paid thousands of dollars for the products – and – bear in mind – all products came with an unconditional money back guarantee – for any reason whatsoever!  In fact, in the Attorney General’s State of Maryland, only $16,000 worth of products were sold and over $11,000 of that amount was refunded – no questions asked.  This whole “egregious fraud” as the Attorney General so dramatically called it, was over a matter of just $5,000 – and not one single consumer complaint!!

Contact Kathleen Deoul, Media Matters
Email: admin@cancer-coverup.com