Robert Barefoot

Robert R. Barefoot (born 1944) is a proponent of alternative medicine. He has been cited by both the United Kingdom's Independent Television Commission and the Federal Trade Commission in the United States for making allegedly misleading ads and making unsubstantiated claims, including medical claims.[1]

Background

Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Robert Barefoot graduated with Honors from Northern Alberta Institute of Technology with a certificate in chemical research technology. Although he is sometimes referred to as "Dr. Robert Barefoot",[2] he did not complete a PhD program. He lives in Wickenburg, Arizona.[3]

According to unverifiable information on his website, Barefoot has researched enhanced hydrocarbon and metal extraction in the mining industry, for which he obtained several international patents. He has also published six research papers on mineral diagenesis and analytical chemistry.[4]

Based on his research with Dr. Carl Reich on terminal cancer patients, Barefoot wrote The Calcium Factor, suggesting that coral calcium had better effects than the ordinary kind.[4] He began to market his own brand of coral calcium as being helpful to terminal cancer patients. The book has been ranked in Amazon's top 500 sales listings, but Barefoot's claims have been described as a "scam."[5]

Until 2004, Barefoot presented his products in an infomercial hosted by Kevin Trudeau.

Litigation

When the Attorney General of Maryland brought a case against the marketers of T-Up, an unproven cancer and AIDS treatment,[6] Barefoot was called as an expert witness by (which side?) on the use of caesium chloride on humans in conjunction with high pH therapy. He was dismissed by the court based on his lack of professional training and research in this particular area.[7]

Criticism

According to a Time magazine article about Barefoot by Leon Jaroff, "The monthly cost of the recommended dose of Barefoot's calcium tablets is some 15 times greater than that of the ordinary drug store variety." Jaroff called Barefoot's marketing of coral calcium "one of the more successful scams of our age" and "sheer nonsense," and labeled him a "huckster".[5] He ended his article with a call for intervention by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

When are the chickens ever going to come home to roost? Barefoot has been getting away with this scam for years, conning his naive audience, and presumably enriching himself along the way. Isn't it well past time for the Federal Trade Commission to step in?[5]

Coral Calcium is nothing more than calcium carbonate and magnesium (there are other elements and minerals present in trace amounts) which can be bought at the local home improvement store as limestone and costs about $1.00 per bag.

References

  1. ↑ Barrett, Stephen. "A Critical Look at Robert Barefoot". Quackwatch. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "Robert Barefoot Interview Page 2". Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  3. ↑ Robert Barefoot. "Curriculum Vitae". Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  4. 1 2 RobertBarefoot.com
  5. 1 2 3 Jaroff, Leon (Mar. 14, 2003). Coral Calcium: A Barefoot Scam. Time
  6. ↑ Maryland Attorney General (May 10, 2000). Curran Orders Aloe Company to Stop "Miracle Cure" Claims and to Pay Restitution and $3.7 Million in Civil Penalties.
  7. ↑ Rodowsky J. Opinion in T-Up, Inc, et al. v. Consumer Protection Division, Office of the Attorney General, In the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, No. 0064, September Term, 2001.

External links

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