Klee Irwin

{{pseudoscience}}
'''Klee Irwin''' is a [[pseudoscience]] proponent.<ref name="QW">Barret, Stephen. [https://quackwatch.org/infomercial/reports/dualaction/ "Don't Buy Dual Action Cleanse."] ''QuackWatch.org''. 20 May 2010.</ref> He became widely known for his infomercials for "Dual Action Cleanse", a [[nature woo|"natural" remedy]],<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5yIsQfxY7c</ref>, which was subject to numerous lawsuits.<ref>http://www.raysahelian.com/irwinnaturals.html</ref> Some have reported being scammed by his company.<ref>http://begonias.typepad.com/srubio/2009/02/klee-irwin-piece-of-shit-motherfucking-rip-off-scam-artists.html</ref>

==Legal adventures==
The [[FDA]] is not a fan. In 2001 they sent a letter warning him about serious safety concerns and multiple violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,<ref>[http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2001/ucm178286.htm Omni Nutraceuticals, Inc. 16-Oct-01] on fda.gov, archived at [https://wayback.archive-it.org/7993/20170112070003/http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/EnforcementActivitiesbyFDA/WarningLettersandNoticeofViolationLetterstoPharmaceuticalCompanies/UCM166378.pdf archive-it.org]</ref> and in 2004 a letter saying that they had reviewed the claims about the "Maximum Strength Phase 2 Carb-Blocker" product and concluded these claims were not supported by reliable and competent scientific evidence.<ref>[http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2004/ucm146911.htm Irwin Naturals 22-Oct-04] on fda.gov</ref>

In 2008 the Securities and Exchange Commission revoked the registration of multiple registered securities including Omni Nutraceuticals, Inc. based on repeated failure to file required periodic reports with the SEC. The last report the SEC received reported a net loss of $7,032,000 in a period of nine months.<ref>http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2008/34-58764.pdf</ref>

In 2009 a man from [[Tennessee]] said he was nearly killed by Dual Action Cleanse. At that time the product had generated 816 complaints nationwide at the Better Business Bureau of Los Angeles. The president of the Better Business Bureau of North Alabama, Michele McDaniel, said: "Some of the complaints are about unauthorized charges &mdash; when a consumer tries to get a refund, they're having trouble. We're certainly concerned about the patterns that are showing in this report".<ref>[http://www.whnt.com/news/takingaction/whnt-colon-cleansing-problem,0,6498924.story?page=1 Fayetteville Man Says Colon Cleansing Product Nearly Killed Him] - WHNT News - February 10, 2009 ([http://web.archive.org/web/20100813132642/http://www.whnt.com/news/takingaction/whnt-colon-cleansing-problem,0,6498924.story archive.org], [http://i.imgur.com/rVMVS.png page 2])</ref>

In 2011, several district attorneys filed a civil lawsuit and Irwin Naturals was ordered to pay $2,650,000 for unfair business practices, false and misleading advertising, and charging for products that were never ordered and failing to reimburse customers. Irwin Naturals sold products like "10 Day Hoodia Diet" & "Fast Action Hoodia Diet" that, contrary to the information on the label, did not contain ''[[Hoodia gordonii]]''. Several of their products contained an illegal amount of [[lead]], in one case (Green Tea Fat Burner) over fourteen times over the legal limit, but the products were not marked with the warning labels that are required by law.<ref>[http://orangecountyda.org/civica/press/display.asp?layout=2&Entry=2138 DIETARY SUPPLEMENT DISTRIBUTOR TO PAY $2.65 MILLION TO SETTLE HISTORIC STATEWIDE UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES LAWSUIT] &mdash; Orange County District Attorney Press Release &mdash; orangecountyda.com</ref>

==Quantum woo pushing==
Having made a large sum of money from this business, Irwin has started  to promote [[Quantum woo]]. In 2012 he has registered the domain name of "Quantum Gravity Research" <ref>www.quantumgravityresearch.org</ref><ref>https://who.is/whois/quantumgravityresearch.org</ref>, and in 2014 registered a non-profit organisation with the same name based in LA.<ref>https://eintaxid.com/company/461202082-quantum-gravity-research/</ref>

In 2012 he has begun releasing "research papers"<ref>http://www.quantumgravityresearch.org/portfolio/all-papers</ref> about numerous junk sciences like [[cold fusion]], the [[golden ratio]], [[crystals]], and [[Quantum consciousness|consciousness]]. To make his scam appear more legitimate, he has hired several associates with genuine experience in Physics, and through them, has stuck his name on academic papers of varying legibility. <ref>http://www.quantumgravityresearch.org/fang-fang/</ref><ref>http://www.seas.ucla.edu/plasma/PhDTheses.html</ref>

In 2015 he also started uploading videos about the group's "research" <ref>https://youtu.be/fV07SJz1YXI</ref>, in which either he discusses various woo topics, or one of his associates "lectures" on Physics to Irwin himself or a crowd of no more than 5 people at a time. (however, it's worth noting that in those lectures, he often talks over them). The YouTube channel also hosts two 30-minute half-professionally produced 
fiction
 documentary films "What is Reality?" and "Hacking Reality" that cover a number of topics &mdash; nearly all of which are ''completely'' misunderstood.<ref>https://youtu.be/w0ztlIAYTCU</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/vJi3_znm7ZE</ref>

Klee's philosophy could be described as a form of [[panpsychism]], in which consciousness is, in Klee's view, a fundamental property of matter, and plays a role in quantum collapse. In his video lectures, he often invokes [[circular reasoning]] to come to the conclusion that "the universe self-actualizes itself."

It is likely that this whole effort is simply a donation scam, hoping to get donations intended to assist the team with their supposed research. It is obvious that Irwin and his associates put much effort to market the project and make it appear legitimate. Probably the biggest tell-tale sign of woo is the amount of material intended for the general public. Videos are dubbed into Arabic and Hindi to reach a max amount of audience. A tactic usually used by religious programs. Real research teams don't commission Documentaries on their work, or create fancy websites to publicize it.

==Other endeavours==
Irwin was a co-founder of [[Ray Kurzweil]]'s Singularity "(sic) University" in 2007.<ref>http://singularityu.org/community/founders/ Singularity University Founders</ref>

While it existed, he attempted to keep his Wikipedia article in good order 
by [[Fun:Edit war|edit warring]]
.<ref>[[:File:Klee-Irwin.gif]]</ref>

While still working on the Quantum Gravity Research project, Irwin continues to promote and sell cannabis extract (CBD). He also published a book on CBD's use for pain relief in 2018, ''Pain Nation: Sick, Stressed, and All F*cked Up: Is CBD the Cure?''.<ref>''Pain Nation: Sick, Stressed, and All F*cked Up: Is CBD the Cure?'' by Klee Irwin (2018) Page Two. ISBN  1989025382.</ref> However, there is a lack of high-quality evidence for CBD as effective pain relief and it has not been approved as pain relief in the US. A mix of THC and CBD was approved for specific kinds of pain relief in Canada but not in the USA, and it isn't clear that CBD alone would have the same effect.<ref>[https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cbd-for-chronic-pain-the-science-doesnt-match-the-marketing-2020092321003 CBD for chronic pain: The science doesn’t match the marketing], Shafik Boyaji, ''Harvard Health Blog'', Harvard University, September 23, 2020</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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Categories: Living people