Biopulse: Insulin Coma Therapy and Stock Fraud in Tijuana

QuackeryWatch Finding

Biopulse International operated a Tijuana clinic using insulin-induced comas as a cancer treatment while trading publicly on U.S. markets. Mexican health officials shut the clinic down for unauthorized treatment; the company then rebranded as California BioScience. A former client's mother was billed $27,500 for the unproven insulin coma therapy in a lawsuit alleging fraudulent misrepresentation of its success.

Biopulse shut down then reopens in Tijuana

Biopulse annual report - yes it's publicly traded! - Why would they have money in escrow with Brigham Young University? They run insulin therapy to put people into a coma. This clinic was recently featured on ABC's PrimeTime with an undercover report on quack cancer clinics in Tijuana.

The Strange Saga of Biopulse - The May 2001 Townsend Letter reports on the clinic and its director, Loran Swensen.

"Mr. Swensen is a former Mormon missionary, whose new mission is to make high-tech alternative treatments available to Americans. He comes across as forthright and friendly, eager to share details of his treatment and business plans. He has held a variety of jobs, most recently selling "motion simulators" to the entertainment industry. His involvement with alternative medicine stemmed from his son's treatment for cerebral palsy at a Mexican clinic some years back. A positive experience led him to start a chain of medical clinics of his own in the US. But he eventually closed these down, by his own admission, just one step ahead of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
There were persistent rumors about the company, its treatments and officers. Some readers may see BioPulse as the victim of a conspiracy by conventional medicine (or stock manipulators).

"They are scoundrels! - Gamblingmagazine.com says of some of the former auditors who did the Biopulse books.

Gambling Magazine was the first to tell you what kind of crooks and scoundrels were Jones and Jensen, A/K/A HJ & Associates, LLC. As reported by Gambling Magazine, they also are Starnet's auditors and represent some of the Biggest Scamsters in the underbelly of Wall Street. This latest story made Gambling Magazine PEE in their pants. Jones and Jensen used to be the accountants of BIO PULSE INTERNATIONAL INC.

Yahoo Business Profile - Check the balance sheet, the officers, and more. I really like their chart for the last year. Sort of resembles the faith people have in quack cancer remedies.

VectorVest investor report - I think you need to read again about their name change. We should give out a prize to see who can guess all the names associated, or linked, or claimed to be linked to the people in Tijuana.

Edgar reports - Despite the fact that insulin coma does nothing for cancer, never has, never will, this company continues to operate as if nothing has changed. And, people continue to invest in it. Where is the SEC, the FTC, and the U.S. government?

Search for articles on Biopulse from San Diego Union Tribune

What's this, the landlord wants a letter of credit in San Diego? - San Diego Union Tribune - Feb 22, 2001

The company also announced that it's changing its name to California BioScience. Last week, the Federal Trade Commission started an inquiry of the company's advertising practices. Some medical experts dismiss BioPulse's alternative cancer therapies, which include using insulin to induce comas in patients, as useless and potentially risky.

Mexican health officials finally shut down Utah and California based Biopulse.

San Diego Union Tribune. - February 2001 - The ultimate story here might be nothing more than a stock swindle. It's not the first time that investors have been taken for a ride. Does this mean that Mexico is really serious about cancer quacks?

Biopulse web site - two days later, not one mention of the story above

Leviakis Financial Corp. - no mention of Mexican shutdown

Lycos search

TheStreet.com - Stock Talk - Ticker is BIOP - press release by company doesn't mention fact that their clinic was shut down in Tijuana. They claim it was sold. Who do you believe?

Is the name Biopulse really just a DBA? According to one source, they are registered with Hoovers as Solary. I am very confused. If so, that company was sued by ACLU in 1995 for firing an employee with HIV/AIDS.

BioPulse and Burton Goldberg sued by chiropractor

San Diego Union Tribune

May 16, 2001

A former BioPulse International client has filed a lawsuit alleging that the company induced him to pay for "worthless" medical care by making false claims about the success of its alternative cancer therapies.

The client, Santa Barbara chiropractor Paul Burns, alleges that San Ysidro-based BioPulse fraudulently persuaded him to pay the company $27,500 to provide an unproven insulin coma therapy to his terminally ill mother.