Author Topic: Alfredo Bowman AKA "Dr." Sebi  (Read 4461 times)

Offline educatedindian

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Alfredo Bowman AKA "Dr." Sebi
« on: May 01, 2019, 10:42:51 pm »
Got a request about him. He's passed away but his sites are still up and pseudo science claims still pushed esp by Afrocentrics and altmed conspiracy theorists.

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https://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/sebi.html
 In 1987, he was charged with the crime of practicing medicine without a license. When the case came to trial, however, the jury found him "not guilty." The only third-party account I could find about the trial says that the jury voted in his favor because it was not persuaded that he was making medical diagnoses or prescribing medicinal substances [6]. There is more to the story, however. At a 1993 Congressional hearing, Shirley Stark, who headed the NYAG's Consumer Fraud Section, indicated that there was a successful civil case against his company. She stated:

A particularly glaring example of unsubstantiated therapeutic claims made for herbal supplements occurred a few years ago when the USHA Herbal Research Institute, run by a self-styled nutritionist calling himself "Dr. Sebi," advertised in the Village Voice and the Amsterdam News that "AIDs HAS BEEN CURED" by USHA and that they also specialize in cures for Leukemia, sickle cell anemia, herpes, lupus and other diseases. For an initial fee of $500 and $80 for each additional visit, patients were told they could be cured of AIDS and other diseases. The "cures" consisted of various herbal products, for each of which USHA made therapeutic claims. Eva Therapeutic Salve, for example, was referred to in USHA's brochure as . . . "very effective on major skin problems, in prenatal use, against poor circulation, cancer, cysts, hemorrhoids and arthritis." In fact, these claims were false. Our office filed suit against USHA and entered a consent agreement under which USHA can no longer make therapeutic claims for any of its products [7].

The consent agreement barred the Ogun Herbal Research Institute (d/b/a USHA), Fig Tree Products Company, Alfredo Bowman, Maa Bowman, and their successors and assigns from (a) claiming that their products or services were effective against AIDS, herpes, leukemia, sickle cell anemia, lupus, or any other human disease or condition, (b) selling any such products, and (c) diagnosing or treating any human ailment without a valid state license. The defendants were also assessed $900 for costs [8].

The USHA Research Institute and Dr. Sebi, LLC are now located in California.

Other Legal Entanglements
Several Web sites report that in 2004, Bowman spent six months with Michael Jackson (the singing star), treating him with African Bio-Electric Cell Food Therapy and supposedly helping him to overcome addiction to painkiller drugs. Later that year, however, Bowman and Dr. Sebi LLC sued Jackson for $380,000 in unpaid bills and $600,000 in supposedly lost revenues. The complaint stated that Bowman had provided "special herbal compounds" and trained cooks to prepare meals for Jackson [9.10]. Documents from the case are not posted online, but the docket indicates that the suit was dismissed in 2015 for lack of prosecution [11].
In 2014, Bowman sued Dr. Sebi Inc., Dr. Sebi Products, Dr. Sebi URUA Health Club International, Dr. Sebi's Office, Xave Bowman Chapman (a daughter who served as chief executive officer for Dr. Sebi's Products for several years), and ten other individuals for "contractual fraud." I do not know what the dispute involves, but it suggests that he had relinquished control of these businesses and was unhappy with what happened.

In 2016, Honduran Government authorities charged Bowman with money laundering. Press reports indicate that he was arrested shortly after entering the country with cash that he could not explain. Some reports describe two arrests, one in March involving $37,000 and another in May involving $50,000 carried by him and an associate. Other reports mention only one arrest, in June, with the amount being $37,000 or $50,000. All reports agree he was jailed on June 3rd, developed pneumonia, died on August 6th.

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https://www.foxnews.com/story/jackos-new-doctor-no-scrubs-no-diploma
...When Jackson thought he was having a morphine overdose last December, I am told he called in one Alfredo Bowman, also known as "Dr. Sebi." Bowman is not a real doctor. He just plays one.

Bowman — sort of Jackson's "Dr. Bombay" — if you remember the TV show "Bewitched" — is now staying with Michael in Aspen, feeding him minerals and herbs and talking to him very nicely. US Weekly says Dr. Sebi is "detoxing" Michael from his addiction to alcohol and painkillers. One of my sources told me, however: "Good luck. Michael's probably taking the vitamins, then popping a Xanax and a Demerol."

Jackson, I am told, thought he was suffering from a morphine overdose during Christmas week. He wasn't, thank goodness, but that was when Bowman arrived on the scene. He has "treated" Michael ever since, first at his rented mansion in Beverly Hills and now at the Davis Pillsbury ranch in Snowmass, Colo.

Bowman has an office in Beverly Hills, of course (where really anyone can put a shingle and rake in the bucks). But his real headquarters is Honduras, where he was "treating" TLC singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes at his USHA Healing Village when she died in a car accident on April 27, 2002. (Luckily, Jackson's passport has been taken away from him by the Santa Barbara District Attorney, so there'll be no visits by him — or remakes of "The Mosquito Coast" — anytime soon.)

(TLC's big hit was called "No Scrubs," which was not a reference to Bowman's work apparel.)

The good doctor also ran afoul of the New York State attorney general a couple of years ago. That office objected to Bowman's advertising boasting of cures for AIDS, cancer, leukemia and other ailments, and ordered him to pull it. His packages of minerals range from $175 to $1,500 a month. They include bottles of "electric cell food" pills ($25) and "Bio Electric I and II" capsules to purify the system ($75).

According to sources Bowman treats lots of celebrities who don't seem to mind that on his Web site Dr. Sebi boasts of never having gone to school — "not even kindergarten."

His Web site does, however, claim: "We are proud to inform you that Cosmo Therapy is part of our healing journey realigning with the energy of life which is beyond spirituality. Return to MOTHER!!!"

Jackson should know a couple of things about Bowman, in all seriousness. An excellent article in the August 2002 issue of Philadelphia Weekly, Solomon Jones reported that Lopes' uncle Anthony — who was morbidly obese — followed Bowman's regimen of herbs, lost 100 pounds, gained them back and subsequently died of congestive heart failure. Lisa Lopes, according to the article, frequently hallucinated and had premonitions of her own death during her three years of mineral "treatment."

Offline Sparks

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Re: Alfredo Bowman AKA "Dr." Sebi
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2019, 02:06:00 am »
There is so much about him (and Nipsey Hussle) this past month of April 2019:

Conspiracy Theory About Holistic Doctor Deaths Resurfaces After Nipsey Hussle Murder
[…]
The 31 March 2019 murder of hip hop artist and community advocate Nipsey Hussle in Los Angeles has prompted some netizens to drudge up a baseless conspiracy theory about holistic doctor deaths and insinuate the rapper was assassinated as part of a wide-ranging cover-up plot sanctioned by the pharmaceutical, medical, and regulatory agencies.
[…]
Before his untimely death, the 33-year-old artist announced he was working on a documentary film about alternative health guru and traditional healer Alfredo Bowman, also known as Dr. Sebi, who died in 2016 from pneumonia while in custody of Honduran authorities after being arrested on money-laundering charges. Sebi was 82 at the time of his death.

Social media sleuths take on mysterious herbalist Dr. Sebi

NEW YORK (AP) — Social media sleuths are lighting up their streams with conspiracy theories connecting the shooting death of Nipsey Hussle and an herbalist who claimed back in the 1980s that he had a cure for AIDS and other ailments.

Hussle, who was killed Sunday in Los Angeles, was reportedly working on a documentary about Dr. Sebi, who in 1985 beat New York allegations of practicing medicine without a license after his healing center ran newspaper advertisements claiming his diet of low alkaline foods cured patients with AIDS.

Sebi, born Alfredo Bowman, died in a Honduran jail cell in 2016 after his arrest for carrying large sums of cash into his native country. He was 82. The official cause was pneumonia. Some think Hussle’s death is connected to the Sebi documentary because of a belief that there were forces trying to silence Sebi’s health message, though there is no direct evidence of that.

Also reported by:
http://www.startribune.com/social-media-sleuths-take-on-mysterious-herbalist-dr-sebi/508019872/
https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/social-media-sleuths-take-on-herbalist-dr-sebi-after-hussle-shooting-1.4363655

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-47785688
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/quackery/dr-sebi-what-do-we-make-him
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/elaminabdelmahmoud/false-nipsey-hussle-conspiracy-speading-selbi
https://www.gq.com/story/why-nipsey-hussles-death-set-off-a-conspiracy-theory
https://heavy.com/news/2019/04/dr-sebi/
https://face2faceafrica.com/article/the-mysterious-life-and-death-of-dr-sebi-the-celebrity-healer-who-claims-to-cure-aids
http://www.thebody.com/content/81692/dr-sebi-did-not-cure-hiv-nipsey-hussle-documentary.html

Offline Sparks

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Re: Alfredo Bowman AKA "Dr." Sebi
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2019, 02:50:54 am »
Here are other sources and older reports about Alfredo Bowman AKA "Dr." Sebi:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Bowman

His own site, still selling over-priced "natural remedies" out of Los Angeles, Calif.:
https://drsebiscellfood.com/

Some Facebook pages, a few of them 'liked' by several hundred thousand people:
https://www.facebook.com/superfoodvillagellc/
[Dr. Sebi Natural Healer]
which links to:
https://www.facebook.com/Superfood-Village-494947377243934/
https://www.superfoodvillage.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/DrSebiInformation/
[Doctor Sebi Information]
https://www.facebook.com/drsebihealing/
[Keeping Dr. Sebi's Healing & Legacy Alive]
https://www.facebook.com/DrSebiInspiredRecipes/
[Dr. Sebi Inspired Recipes]
https://www.facebook.com/drsebiscellfood/
[Dr. Sebi's Cell Food]
https://www.facebook.com/AlkalineElectricGirl/
[AlkalineHerbs]

Facebook group with nearly 25,000 members:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/336832120424125/
[Dr sebi alkaline healing & info] "Description: Dr Sebi inspired group."

Another FB group with about 3,000 members:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/109678916082890/
[Dr. Sebi natural Healing]

Unofficial Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Sebi-Natural-Healing/1653172044957273

Books:
https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Usha-Village-Conversation/dp/0615186815
https://www.amazon.com/Sebi-Approved-Smoothie-Detox-Guide-ebook/dp/B07D7B46QV

A couple of articles from admirers and followers:
https://www.blackhealthwealth.com/dr-sebi-diet/
https://medium.com/@calvinmcduffie/the-mysterious-death-of-dr-sebi-2019-update-19e39a54ec9c

This one I should have included in my previous post:
https://gal-dem.com/nipsey-hussle-death-dr-sebi-conspiracy-pharmaceuticals-hiding-cures-black-people/ "Nevertheless, his crookedness is well-documented."