When the Wall Street Journal announced its nonfiction best-sellers list for the week of Aug. 18 there was a peculiar name at No. 1.

Sitting atop the list was “Natural Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About” by Kevin Trudeau.

The back of the book claims we can “Never get sick again!” and “Learn the specific natural cures for herpes, acid reflux, diabetes … cancer … and more!”

In the infomercial for the book Trudeau even claims “You cannot get cancer, and if you have cancer, it goes away. That’s a cure. It’s a natural cure.”

Sure sounds like an interesting book – a book deserving of a No. 1 spot, and something we should all think about reading.

There are a few things that make this book especially interesting. It raises thought-provoking reasons to question just how much faith we should be putting in the words of Trudeau.

Trudeau’s past raises some immediate red flags about the information provided in this book.

You see, Trudeau was banned from appearing in infomercials by the Federal Trade Commission in Sept. 2004. He was also forced to pay $2 million in fines.

Trudeau also pled guilty to credit-card fraud in Boston federal district court in the early ‘90s. He spent almost two years in prison for this crime.

So, the author of this No. 1 selling self-help book is banned from infomercials by the FTC, and has spent time in jail.

Trudeau himself isn’t the only reason to give a little concern before buying into all his book’s claims. The book itself makes some claims outrageous enough to warrant a second thought.

On Aug. 5, the New York Consumer Protection board issued a warning about the book.

The chairperson of the board, Teresa Santiago, went as far to say, “This book is exploiting and misleading people who are searching for cures to serious illnesses. What they discover is page after page after page of pure speculation – not the cures for cancer and other diseases that are promised.” And, “From cover to cover, this book is a fraud. The front cover makes false promises about ‘natural cures’ that are in the book, while the back cover includes false endorsements, including one from a doctor who died three years before it was written.”

I haven’t allocated any of my time or money to see what’s in the book for myself. I’ll stick to the doctors with degrees in, you know, medicine, for my advice. However, I can’t say everything in the book is false and the book isn’t worth reading.

My concern is the same as Santiago’s. Trudeau is claiming to have answers to serious health issues.

With more than 1.5 million copies sold, it’s quite possible this book has influenced at least some to ignore common medical knowledge in favor of tips in the book, which include such remarks as: “People should not use antiperspirant or deodorant” and “Breast milk has been poisoned by exhaust fumes from jets.”

There are a lot of things wrong with this situation.

First, with all due respect to freedom of speech, a book like this topping the nonfiction list is questionable at best.

Secondly, the book is a prime example of ‘buyer beware.’

Anyone can write a book. Even a felon can write one.

Whether it be Trudeau’s book, or any other self-help or opinion book, it’s your job to read with a skeptical eye and think twice before wearing white to avoid cancer because it’s in a book.

Just because you bought the book doesn’t mean you have to buy into its ideas.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.