Dr. Richard Gerhauser

Ten years ago, Dr. Richard Gerhauser claims he had a close brush with death while hiking alone at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. More than a mile from the rim, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, one of the telltale signs of a heart attack. “I knew I was about to die,” he says. But he didn’t die. “Somehow, I dragged myself out of the Grand Canyon that day,” he says.

That’s quite the story. However, Gerhauser has proven not to be the most reliable source when it comes to information related to health issues.

In his book, “The Doctor’s Guide to Reversing Diabetes in 28 Days,” which was advertised as a simple and scientifically proven protocol that can permanently cure type 2 diabetes, without any changes in diet or exercise, Gerhauser recommended that consumers purchase special filters to mitigate the “dirty electricity” from cellphones and other electronic devices that emit non-ionizing radiation (NIR), which he labeled the “hidden” root cause of type 2 diabetes. But while cellphones emit low levels of NIR, the only “consistently recognized biological effect” on humans is heating; to put it a different way, NIR doesn’t cause diabetes. In October 2019, the FTC sued Gerhauser for marketing a bogus diabetes cure. “The causes of type 2 diabetes are well understood and include genetics and obesity,” the agency noted in its complaint.

The complaint also named as defendants (among other companies and individuals) Health Sense Media, which puts out a newsletter called Natural Health Response for which Gerhauser serves as editor in chief, and Agora Financial, which along with Health Sense Media is held by parent company and publishing giant Monument & Cathedral Holdings, formerly known as The Agora. In February, the stipulating parties entered into a settlement order that prohibits them from, among other things, making unsubstantiated health claims. Fast forward four months and a TINA.org investigation has found that the companies and individuals named in the order are violating the terms of the settlement agreement, including Gerhauser.

In fact, the video that starts with Gerhauser recounting his miraculous story of survival at the Grand Canyon a decade ago ends with a pitch for his new book, “The Secrets of Underground Medicine,” which he claims contains dozens of “exclusive and groundbreaking reports” for fighting Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and – you guessed it – diabetes. (See screenshot of video transcript below.)

Just as the protocol in “The Doctor’s Guide” was advertised as “scientifically proven,” Gerhauser claims the natural remedies he prescribes in “The Secrets of Underground Medicine” are “scientifically verified to deliver true healing.” But TINA.org purchased a subscription to a Health Sense Media publication for $74, which was what was required to obtain the allegedly “free” book, and found that it does not contain any secret disease treatments or preventions that are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.

TINA.org has filed a complaint with the FTC urging the agency to reopen its investigation into Gerhauser, among the other individuals and companies TINA.org found in violation of the settlement order.

Gerhauser remains certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM), according to a physician lookup tool on the ABPM website. TINA.org reached out to the ABPM for comment but did not receive a response.

Read more about TINA.org’s complaint to the FTC here.