Claim: Ben Carson Says he "didn’t have an involvement with" nutritional supplement company Mannatech.
Verdict: REFUTES

Retrieved passages:
title: Ben Carson
text: disease. In 2004, in a speech at a Mannatech, Inc. event, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his cancer symptoms. According to CNN, Carson had an "extensive relationship" from 2004 to 2014 with Mannatech, a multi-level marketing company that produces dietary supplements made from substances such as aloe vera extract and larch-tree bark. Carson gave four paid speeches at company events. He has denied being paid by Mannatech to do anything else, saying he has been a "prolific speaker" who has addressed many groups. The nature of this relationship became an issue in 2015 during Carson's presidential

title: Ben Carson
text: campaign. Carson's relationship with Mannatech continued after the company paid $7 million in 2009 to settle a deceptive-marketing lawsuit, in Texas, over claims that its products could cure autism and cancer. His most recent paid speech for the company was in 2013, for which he was paid $42,000. His image appeared on the corporation's website in 2014, and in the same year, he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special that was subsequently featured on the site. Carson delivered the keynote address at a Mannatech distributor convention in 2011, during which he said the company had donated funds to

title: Mannatech
text: and its products. In 2004, in a speech at a Mannatech event, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his cancer symptoms. Carson's image still appeared on the Mannatech's website in 2014, and in the same year he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special ("The Missing Link – The Science of Brain Health"), sponsored by a group of Mannatech distributors, that was subsequently featured on the site. During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech and denied any involvement with the company. Politifact rated Carson's denial of

title: Ben Carson
text: During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech. He replied, "That's easy to answer. I didn't have any involvement with Mannatech. Total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people—they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say I had any kind of relation with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it is a good product." Politifact rated Carson's denial of any involvement as "false", pointing to his paid speeches for Mannatech and his appearances in promotional videos in which he

title: Ben Carson
text: favorably reviewed its products, despite not being "an official spokesman or sales associate". When the CNBC moderator commented that Carson was on Mannatech's website, Carson replied that he had not given his permission. Earlier, he had said that he was unaware of the company's legal history. On November 3, 2015, Mannatech said on its website that for compliance with Federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency. In July 2013, Carson was hired by "The Washington Times" as a weekly opinion columnist. In October 2013, Fox News hired

title: Mannatech
text: any involvement as "false". In November 2015, Mannatech said on its website that, for compliance with Federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency. Mannatech Mannatech is a multinational multi-level marketing firm that sells dietary supplements and personal care products, with a history of false claims and lawsuits. It was founded in November 1993 by Samuel Caster and is headquartered in Coppell, Texas. The company's stock is traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol MTEX. As of 2017, Mannatech employed 252 people and sold its products through

title: Mannatech
text: profits of $6.5 million and total revenue of $190.1 million. In November 2017, Mannatech received an FDA warning letter for illegally marketing several of its supplement products as medicinal agents and for selling adulterated and misbranded products in violation of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations and Good Manufacturing Practice regulations for dietary supplements. In December 2017, Mannatech reached an agreement with the Town Council of Flower Mound, Texas, to relocate its headquarters to an existing facility in the city. Starting in 2004, neurosurgeon and conservative politician Ben Carson made videos and spoke at company events promoting Mannatech

title: Mannatech
text: products through its multi-level marketing structure in church congregations. Prior to founding Mannatech, Caster had founded and run Eagle Shield, an insulation manufacturer, and Electracat, a pest control device; both were categorized as a hoax by the Texas Attorney General's office. Mannatech was founded to sell dietary supplements and personal care products. Before developing its own products, the company sold Manapol, an aloe vera extract made by another company. Its most widely known product has been Ambrotose, a dietary supplement made from sugars derived from plants. From 1993 to 2009, Rafael Cruz, father of presidential candidate Ted Cruz, was a

title: Ben Carson
text: help him obtain a coveted endowed chair post at Johns Hopkins Medicine: "... three years ago I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me and uh, it requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair and I'm proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech." In October 2015, Carson's campaign team said "there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins", and his statement had been "a legitimate mistake on his part. Confusion. He had been doing some fundraising for the hospital and some other chairs about that time, and he simply got things mixed up."

title: Mannatech
text: about 2008, when it started losing money due to exposure of its business practices through a class action lawsuit based on the false health claims, a critical "20/20" news special, and a civil suit filed by the Attorney General of Texas. Mannatech was founded by Samuel Caster in 1993, as Congress prepared to pass the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, which made feasible the profitable marketing of a wider spectrum of dietary supplements. The company has had a Christian orientation since its founding; the name was intended to evoke manna, and it recruited people to sell its

title: Mannatech
text: Mannatech Mannatech is a multinational multi-level marketing firm that sells dietary supplements and personal care products, with a history of false claims and lawsuits. It was founded in November 1993 by Samuel Caster and is headquartered in Coppell, Texas. The company's stock is traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol MTEX. As of 2017, Mannatech employed 252 people and sold its products through some 220,000 independent sales associates. Mannatech and its salespeople made false claims of anti-disease benefits about its lead product called "Ambrotose" which contains sugars derived from plants. The company was profitable soon after its founding until

title: Ben Carson
text: biotechnology company Vaccinogen from August 2014 until the announcement of his US presidential bid in May 2015. Carson had previously served on Vaccinogen's Medical Advisory Board. Carson, who had been registered as a Republican, changed his registration to independent in the 1990s after watching Republicans impeach President Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice regarding an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I just saw so much hypocrisy in both parties", he said. In February 2013, Carson said he was not a member of any political party. In his book "America the Beautiful" (2013), he wrote: "I believe it is a

title: Samuel Caster
text: addition to the penalties exacted from Mannatech. Samuel Caster Samuel Caster is an American businessman who founded Mannatech, a multi-level marketing firm. Prior to founding Mannatech, Caster had founded and run Eagle Shield and marketed Electracat, a pest control device declared by the Attorney General of Texas as a hoax. Caster attended North Texas State University (now University of North Texas) for a four month period in 1972. In the late 1980s, Caster founded Eagle Shield, which sold an insulation product that it claimed was based on new technology developed by NASA and that could reduce heating and cooling costs

title: Mannatech
text: General Greg Abbott formally charged Mannatech, MannaRelief, Sam Caster, and Reginald McDaniel, the company's medical director, with operating an illegal marketing scheme in violation of state law. A "20/20" undercover investigation that aired June 1, 2007 on ABC Television showed Mannatech's sales associates teaching sales recruits how to target Mannatech products to people with specific illnesses in a manner that purportedly does not violate U.S. federal law, including U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations, by avoiding direct claims that the products cure any particular diseases. In August 2007, Caster resigned as CEO of Mannatech. In October 2007, it was reported

title: Mannatech
text: 2005 an article was published in "Barron's" questioning the company's business practices. In September 2005, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Mannatech for alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act; it was prompted by the Barron's article. In 2006, Mannatech distributor Vivienne Balonwu, a U.K. general practitioner, was found by the U.K. General Medical Council panel to have "abused her power as a doctor" after it was determined that she had illegally promoted and sold the company's products to people as a treatment for medical conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and stroke-related complications. Following patient complaints about her

title: Samuel Caster
text: Samuel Caster Samuel Caster is an American businessman who founded Mannatech, a multi-level marketing firm. Prior to founding Mannatech, Caster had founded and run Eagle Shield and marketed Electracat, a pest control device declared by the Attorney General of Texas as a hoax. Caster attended North Texas State University (now University of North Texas) for a four month period in 1972. In the late 1980s, Caster founded Eagle Shield, which sold an insulation product that it claimed was based on new technology developed by NASA and that could reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 40%. In May 1988,

title: Samuel Caster
text: motion machine." Caster agreed to stop selling the Electracat and "to refrain from making claims about products that were not supported by science". In 1993, Caster founded Mannatech. He served as CEO of the company until August 2007, when he resigned. In October 2007, it was reported that the company had fired Grant Thornton LLP as its auditor after the accounting firm demanded that Mannatech remove Caster from all responsibilities. Greg Abbott, the then-Texas Attorney General, charged Caster and Mannatech "with operating an illegal marketing scheme." Caster settled the lawsuit in 2009 and agreed to personally pay $1 million in

title: Ben Carson
text: Ben Carson Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American politician, author and former neurosurgeon serving as the 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development since 2017, under the Trump Administration. Prior to his cabinet position, he was a candidate for President of the United States in the Republican primaries in 2016. Born in Detroit, Michigan, and a graduate of Yale University and the University of Michigan Medical School, Carson has authored numerous books on his medical career and political stances. He was the subject of a in 2009. He was the Director

title: Mannatech
text: marketing of the products in 2006, Balonwu was dismissed by her employer, Harmoni, a medical services company, and the GMC panel imposed a 15-month penalty period during which she was "to avoid private or short term locum work" and "to complete a supervised personal development plan to tackle shortcomings in her practice". Also in 2006, Mannatech was named #5 on "Forbes"’ list of America's 200 Best Small Companies. At the same time, the company came under investigation by the Texas Attorney General in October 2006 for alleged violations of that state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act. In July 2006, Texas Attorney

title: Mannatech
text: that the company had fired Grant Thornton LLP as its auditor after the accounting firm demanded that Mannatech remove Caster from all responsibilities to be replaced by Wayne Badovinus as the new chief executive. Several corporate initiatives were undertaken, but after 17 months on the job Badovinus resigned in December 2009. Another member of the board resigned shortly after. Mannatech's Chief Science Officer Robert Sinnott and Mannatech's chief financial officer Steve Fenstermacher were named Co-CEOs. Fenstermacher later resigned. Publicity over the company's lawsuits began to damage the balance sheets and stock performance. After profits of $32 million in 2006 and