Harm reduction

Television marketer Kevin Trudeau, whose infomercials appear regularly on Reno television stations, has been convicted of criminal contempt for violating the terms of his earlier Federal Trade Commission consent order. In that order, he promised to stop making misleading claims about his books.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman issued an immediate order for Trudeau's arrest, pointing to his contempt for the law. Prosecutors believe Trudeau has stashed millions in out-of-country accounts.

Earlier in his career, Trudeau sold merchandise on his infomercials, such as diet supplements for which he made unfounded medical claims. After regularly running afoul of the FTC, he put his claims into books and started selling them instead of merchandise in his infomercials (“Return of a huckster,” RN&R, Dec. 9, 2004). That brought him under the protection of the First Amendment and complicated the FTC's work.

His books are designed to appeal to the conspiracy minded, with titles like The Weight Loss Cure “They” Don't Want You to Know About.

The jury reached its verdict in an hour after watching three half-hour infomercials that aired on late night TV in 2006 and 2007. Information from his books was also seen by jurors, including a section where he tells readers that if they receive advice from physicians that Trudeau's information is harmful, “Find another doctor.”

In past years, some Reno television stations pledged to stop running Trudeau's programming (“Return of a huckster,” RN&R, Dec. 9, 2004), but it keeps showing up. Infomercials usually are cycled by television stations on a rotating basis from sales agencies, and vigilance is required to know when a Trudeau one is going to air.