#2731: Al Czap

Al Czap is the former president of Thorne Research, Inc. (sold), and current leader of Tesseract Medical Research, neither of which is involved in research but in the development of a range of quack products marketed –blatantly disregarding actual research, evidence or facts – as health-promoting products. At least Thorne Research has been duly targeted by the FDA for its violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; the company’s product range included:

 

-       Perfusia-SR, marketed as being beneficial for a number of clinical conditions, including “Coronary heart disease, Hypertension, Erectile dysfunction, Diabetes, Peripheral vascular disease, Alzheimer [sic] and vascular dementia” by improving endothelial function.

-       Lycopene, marketed as having been “positively associated with reduced risk of prostate, breast, and lung cancers.”

-       MSM-750

-       Calcium D-Glucarate, which apparently is a “detoxification” agent targeting unspecified “environmental toxins”.

-       DHA (omega-3 from algae), which apparently helps cure your ADD.

-       Olive Leaf Extract

 

Czap has in fact been involved in a number of pseudoscientific ventures as a self-styled “inventor, founder, ground breaking industry guru and product pioneer”. He does not appear to have any medical background, but hardly views that as a constraint. Currently, Czap is primarily involved in autism quackery, claiming to have “tamed the most offensive yet most therapeutic molecule available, Butyric Acid”, which is almost like magic when it comes to autism treatment: According to Czap (but not reality), autism involves “excess propionic acid and insufficient butyrate”, and based on his own description of “[s]eeing the therapeutic response to the butyrate from a local autistic child”, he is now changing lives! And as opposed to Big Pharma, “Czap’s efforts are pure and patient-focused, free of the medical industry’s traditional constraints”; said constraints would be facts, evidence, accountability and concerns for safety and efficacy.

 

He has also served (as secretary) on the board of directors of The Alliance for Natural Health USA (formerly the American Association for Health Freedom), a lobbying organization whose goal is to persuade government that various types of quackery are good and dubious health claims are correct through political rather than scientific means.

 

Diagnosis: If you’re lucky, your spam filter will mostly take care of this one, but you should nevertheless stay alert. Yeah, one of those guys.