Re: "Hulda Clark is alternative medicine's worst enemy."

Here's another article from the San Diego Tribune

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20030129-9999_1b29quack.html

FTC sues over health claims





By Penni Crabtree
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 29, 2003

The Federal Trade Commission has filed fraud charges against a San Diego company and its Swiss counterpart for allegedly making false health claims about a device marketed as a cure for AIDS, cancer and other serious diseases.

The federal agency Monday said it filed a lawsuit against the San Diego-based Dr. Clark Research Association, its associated Swiss company, Dr. Clark Behandlungzentrum, and their owner, David P. Amrein. The lawsuit alleges that Amrein made unsubstantiated advertising claims about the medical benefits of two devices, called the "zapper" and the "Syncrometer."

The companies promote and sell devices and herbal products developed by Hulda Clark , a San Diego woman who operates out of a Tijuana alternative medicine clinic.

Clark and her son, Geoff, also separately own businesses in Chula Vista and San Ysidro that cater to patients who buy Hulda Clark 's books and inventions that she claims can diagnose and cure most diseases. Neither of the Clarks are named in the FTC lawsuit.

Amrein, a Swiss citizen, did not respond to e-mails or telephone calls to his San Diego or Switzerland offices. Hulda Clark could not be reached for comment.

Geoff Clark said his Chula Vista company, the Self Health Resource Center, sells his mother's inventions and other products to Amrein and other Internet marketers.

He declined to discuss how much revenue the center generates through sales to Amrein, but added that "it's not so significant that I'd be in financial trouble if he were no longer a customer."

According to Clark's books, which have reaped millions of dollars in sales, her Syncrometer device diagnoses the "true" cause of all diseases, while her zapper, a battery-operated machine, cures by eliminating parasites and toxins with a mild electric current.

Howard Beales, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said his agency is targeting "unscrupulous marketers" who use the Internet to prey on the sickest and most vulnerable consumers.

"Zapping outlandish promises that appeal to health and safety concerns of U.S. consumers is one of our top priorities," said Beales. "Unfortunately, questionable products abound on the Web."

Quackwatch, a consumer watchdog group, said Amrein is a prominent player in a network of marketers who peddle Clark's products and books.

"Clark's ideas are promoted by a network that is clearly designed to market products without getting her into legal trouble, but many of those in the network have broken the law," said Stephen Barrett, spokesman for Quackwatch. "Amrein is a major figure in that network."

Among the items Amrein sells through his Dr. Clark Research Association Web site is a "21-day Program for Advanced Cancers" for $1,850. According to the Web site, the program produces "amazing results in hopeless cases . . . that are nothing short of miraculous." A three-month Diabetes Recovery Program, complete with zapper, sells for $800, while a zapper alone sells for $159.

The FTC's lawsuit, filed in Cleveland federal court, seeks a permanent injunction barring Amrein and his companies from making fraudulent advertising claims about Clark's inventions, which are sold on the Internet and through mail and phone order.

The agency is also seeking refunds for consumers who ordered the products and "disgorgement of ill-gotten monies," according to the lawsuit.

Last year, the FTC settled fraud charges with another company, Blaine, Wash.-based Western Herb, that used the Internet to sell the zapper and other products touted by Clark.

Clark's Tijuana-based clinic, Century Nutrition, was shut down in early 2001 by Baja California health officials for operating without a license. It was later allowed to reopen but was prohibited from offering alternative treatments.

Geoff Clark declined to say whether the Tijuana clinic is open or if his mother is working there. However, a staff member at the Chula Vista center said the clinic is open and Hulda Clark is working there, and in a statement on Hulda Clark's Web site, she says that most of her time is "spent at Century Nutrition clinic in Mexico or writing up new findings."

Jesus Octovio Montano, who oversees hospitals and clinics for the Baja California health department, confirmed that the clinic is open. But he said it is not licensed to practice alternative medicine of any kind, and that Clark cannot work in Mexico, even as a consultant.



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Staff writer Sandra Dibble contributed to this report.
Penni Crabtree: (619) 293-1237; penni.crabtree@uniontrib.com

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