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Gero Vita Head Got Clinton Pardon

Gero Vita • Gero Vita Promoter Settles FTC Charges • Gero Vita Promoter Fined $4.5 Million • Gero Vita Settles Federal Charges • Gero Vita Head Got Clinton Pardon • Gero Vita, Theraceuticals Use Deceptive Advertising, FTC Charges • Consumer Complaints

It might be said that Braswell used an alternative remedy to rid his record of a 1983 convicton for perjury and mail fraud, crimes for which Braswell spent seven months in federal prison. He paid $200,000 to Hugh Rodham, brother-in-law of former President Clinton, who favored Braswell with one of his last-minute pardons. Rodham has since returned the money but the incident provides an interesting glance into the behind-the-scenes world of so-called alternative medicine and herbal supplements.

Like others caught in the unexpected gush of publicity surrounding the pardons, Braswell is nothing if not bipartisan. Besides his payments to Rodham, he has contributed heavily to GOP candidates. In fact, the Florida Republican Party and President Bush returned $250,000 to Braswell, supposedly after learning about his past when the Rodham story broke. And Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who last year wrote a laudatory article for Braswell's Journal of Longevity, has since denounced Braswell's products as "snake oil."

Gov. Bush has said through a spokesman that he wrote the article praising alternative health care in response to pressure from GOP fund-raisers and lobbyists. He later claimed the journal editors had altered the text to make it appear that he was praising Braswell's products.

Braswell, 57, is somewhat secretive about his personal life and business dealings, though it's known that he has a large boat moored near an even larger house in the Miami area. He relies heavily on lawyers and lobbyists, going so far as to hire well-connected lobbyists to get permission to chop down 400 mangrove trees that were said to be blocking the view from his home.

It's a good thing Braswell knows so many lawyers. He needs them frequently, as in his 1983 perjury and mail fraud trial, when he was accused of using faked "before" and "after" pictures in advertisements for his supposed remedies, including one that was said to cure baldness and another that was touted as getting rid of cellulite.

Braswell and his companies, Gero Vita and G.B. Data Systems, are currently under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, the Los Angeles Times reported recently.

The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Postal Service have both pursued actions against Braswell. The FTC won an order under which Braswell agreed to never again promise that his products cure baldness. And the Postal Service filed numerous complaints alleging false representations in his direct-mail activities.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has blocked some of his products from entering the country, calling them unapproved drugs rather than nutritional supplements. Although Braswell's companies are headquartered in the U.S., he ships most of his drugs from an address in Canada.

Braswell is also fighting a civil lawsuit filed by three sports stars, including baseball great Stan Musial. They claim he illegally used their photos to advertise an herbal concoction that supposedly helps prostate problems.

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