There are certain things in life that are indisputable-rain is wet, the sky is blue and Dr. Andrew Weil is an honest guy. But according to a recent article, written by David Schardt at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Dr. Weil is anything but honest, especially when it comes to the advice he gives out to the public on supplements.

Mr. Schardt seems to believe that Dr. Weil belongs in a category with the likes of Dr. Phil and Larry King. Now, while I cannot comment on the ethics of Dr. Phil or Larry King, what I can say is Dr. Weil is as good as it gets when it comes to alternative medicine.

In the past, many people have commented to me that this industry needs to find a figurehead, one that speaks to it as a whole and has its best interests in mind. Well, Dr. Weil is our man, our leader, the one we should all look up to and emulate. This is why I found CSPI's most recent piece particularly puzzling. (To read more about this article and Dr. Weil's reaction, see page 22 of our "Industry News" section.)

While Mr. Schardt says Dr. Weil is hardly an objective expert on supplements, I happen to believe the exact opposite. He is so objective that he will recommend other products in the marketplace at the expense of his own products-an absolute "no no" in the business world, according to David Stoup, co-chairman of Weil Lifestyle. Furthermore, he is honest (sometimes painfully) about the shortcomings of the supplement industry. But this is the way Dr. Weil has chosen to operate. He will recommend any brand out there as long as it meets a VERY HIGH standard of quality, safety and efficacy-not to "hawk" products, but to provide sensible advice to consumers so they can help themselves when it comes to choosing alternative remedies.

In fact, "hawking" supplements for personal gain was one of CSPI's chief accusations in its recent article bashing the "good" doctor-an accusation Dr. Weil felt was "annoying," and with good reason. See, Dr. Weil used to have a business relationship with Drugstore.com but it pretty much fell apart with a lawsuit last summer. Want to know why? Dr. Weil and his company just couldn't agree with Drugstore.com's definition of appropriate promotion. In other words, he wasn't promoting products aggressively enough and therefore was falling short of his obligations!

And the irony of this story only gets thicker. Dr. Weil launched a supplement line last year in order to help provide a constant funding mechanism to the Weil Foundation, a non-profit organization he established to provide grants to integrative medicine programs across the country. Contrary to the pervasive message of the CSPI article, the foundation and the supplement line were not established to bring in big bucks for Dr. Weil's personal gain.

Dr. Weil decided a long time ago that if integrative medicine was to reach a level of respectability reserved only for conventional medicine, then someone needed to take action to "educate the educators" in order to make sure the right information was getting out there. This is hardly suspect behavior. In fact, most people would call it noble. I don't know about you, but I don't see some of the other self-described "health gurus" in this industry setting up foundations in order to funnel money back to research and education programs.

First impressions can tell you a lot about a person, especially if you are a good evaluator of character. When I met Dr. Weil for the first time, there was no "celebrity" attached to his personality. In conversation with him, he didn't strike me as one out for his own gain. If he is guilty of one thing, it is using his clinical and medical experience, along with a dash of fame, to achieve a higher level of credibility for alternative medicine. Indeed, it has always been his hope that someday conventional and alternative medicine would meet somewhere in the middle at a place called "integrative medicine."

I believe that with Dr. Weil what you see is what you get-an honest guy, with a good heart and one of the most recognizable beards around (second only to Santa Claus, of course). Perhaps if CSPI's Mr. Schardt had had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Weil directly before he wrote this article, he might have painted a more well rounded picture of him, rather than portraying him as a supplement "huckster." I only hope Mr. Schardt will give Dr. Weil a second chance to make a first impression.


Editor's Note: This month we welcome a new column called "From the Corners of the World" by Paul Altaffer (formerly our "Views from South America" columnist) and Grant Washington-Smith. The point of the column is to expose readers to new products, technologies, emerging markets and a wealth of other information from the various corners of the globe. This issue's installment starts on page 36.