SOME thing I definitely want you to know about

The contempt citation they do want you to know about

Consumer Reports News: October 30, 2008 12:30 PM

A federal court has upheld its previous civil contempt ruling against author Kevin Trudeau, banning him from producing or broadcasting self-promoting infomercials for three years and ordering him to pay the nearly $5.2 million estimated royalties from his book, "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About."

The Aug. 7, 2008 order, from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, rejected an effort by Trudeau to have the court reverse its 2007 contempt ruling. In that decision, based on a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission, the court found that Trudeau violated a 2004 order requiring him to stop misrepresentations in infomercials for the book.

The judge said Trudeau had made clear misrepresentations about how easy and simple the book’s diet protocol is. For example, his infomercial claims that dieters who complete “Phase 4” of the four-phase protocol can eat anything they want, but the book says that they must eat “only 100% organic food” and avoid brand name food, fast food, or food served by regional or national restaurants.

The court also said that Trudeau claimed that the diet protocol requires “no exercise,” when in fact three of the four phases require one hour of daily walking outside. And in yet another example, the court said Trudeau’s assertion that the diet protocol can “easily” be done at home conflicts with the book, which calls for colonics and injections of the human growth hormone HCG.

In his decision, Judge Robert W. Gettleman wrote that Trudeau “has a long history of consumer deception as well as findings of contempt by this court.”

The order bans Trudeau from “participating in the production or publication of any infomercial for any product, including books, in which Mr. Trudeau or any related entity has an interest” for three years. Trudeau also was ordered to pay almost $5.2 million, which the court called a conservative estimated of the royalties from the weight loss book.

Trudeau has used infomercials to market numerous other books, including “Natural Cures ‘They’ Don't Want You to Know About” and “Debt Cures 'They' Don't Want You To Know About.” —Anthony Giorgianni