Gregory James Caton (April 6, 1956 – December 15, 2021) was an American businessman, inventor, manufacturer, and promoter of various herbal products, the main one being Cansema, which Caton claimed cures skin cancer,Greg Caton CV although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned it in 2003 as worthless.Shapiro, Rose, How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All, quoted at The Sunday Times Online, February 23, 2008 Caton was the founder of Alpha Omega Labs, a manufacturer of natural health care products, that currently distributes internationally from Guayaquil, Ecuador.Website:Greg Caton
Early life and education Caton was an avid amateur and short wave radio operator.List of Lake Charles Amateur Radio Licences
First businesses Caton founded Consumer Express in 1984. which later became Nutrition for Life, a multi-level marketing (MLM) company. The firm traded briefly on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
Nutrition for LifeDixon, Anna. Doctoral Dissertation University of Hawaii Health and wealth: Dietary supplements, network marketing and the commodification of health entered into a business agreement with Kevin Trudeau.Reuters (January 22, 1996) "Nutrition for Life Hit by Partner's Past", The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2020. After the change of ownership of Consumer Express, Caton wrote a book (which was since withdrawn) on his version of the alleged fraud surrounding this transaction. Down-Line News reviewed this work in February 1993 on their website. Caton filed a suit against Kevin Trudeau in the US Fifth District Court of Appeals, in response to a libel suit by Trudeau in 1996 over Caton's aforementioned book.
In January 1996, Kevin Trudeau filed a libel suit against Caton in Illinois state court based on statements Caton made in a book and on an Internet website. Caton removed the action to federal court, but on Trudeau's motion, the action was remanded. Thereafter, Caton failed to respond to Trudeau's claims and the court entered a default and noticed an evidential hearing. On June 5, 1996, after a hearing, the court rendered a default judgment against Caton, awarding Trudeau $5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
In November 1996, Caton filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in response to the judgment. Shortly afterward, the company was subject to a class action lawsuit filed in Harris County, Texas. Nutrition for Life filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on July 8, 2003.
Caton then took up a project to detail the issues associated with multi-level marketing on a site entitled MLM Credit Bureau. He was featured in an online article by Ami Mills on the Metroactive website in 1996 regarding his work.Website: Mills, Ami Chen, Metroactive Accessed 20DEC09
Lumen Foods, Alpha Omega Labs and Herbologics Caton started Alpha Omega Labs in 1995 using the pseudonym "James Carr".Caton, Greg, Meditopia, online book, 2004 and subsequent, ongoing project Alpha Omega Labs became a provider of over 300 alternative health products with 14 distributors around the world, before its closure by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2003. Caton pleaded guilty to charges that he defrauded consumers.
In early 2000, Lumen Foods reportedly "broke ranks" with the health food industry when it was reported that it would actively include Genetically modified organism (GMO) products in its offerings. "They have it all wrong", said Lumen Foods' President, Greg Caton. "FDA, USDA, and EPA have all done exhaustive research into their safety and have found nothing that remotely suggests that either the consumer or the environment are at risk from GM seed", he said.Food and Drink Weekly, Health foods manufacturer takes pro-GMO stance, 28 FEB 2000 This earned significant attention from non-GMO advocates. Caton spoke at Cornell University's sponsored symposium, Informing the Dialogue about Agricultural Biotechnology, in November 1999. His topic was GMO Controversy & the Whole Foods Industry: Why Wholesale Condemnation of Agricultural Biotechnology Hurts our Most Ingredient-Sensitive MarketsCornell University - Informing the Dialogue about Agricultural Biotechnology Symposium, November 1999 Lumen Foods reversed their position later in the year, supposedly from pressure by their customers.CropChoice "Lumen's Customers Come First" 16 August 2000
Alpha Omega was the topic of an exposé by Business Week in their review of the book Natural Causes.Magazine: BusinessWeek January 8, 2007, webversion http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_02/b4016109.htm The review in Business Week references the case of Sue Gilliatt, a nurse from Indianapolis who claimed she used Cansema, as well as a product named "" (also sold by Caton) for skin cancer on her nose and that they burned off her nose (in the lawsuit, was primarily blamed).Natural Causes BookWebsite: Meditopia pdf Archive:WISH TV Channel 8 News Story accessed 19 DEC 09 Website WISH TV 8, Indianapolis, INBusinessWeek, Jan. 8, 2007. Caton contested Gilliatt's assertions, claiming that because of the individual's use of additional alternative medicine, exclusive attribution of damages from could not be determined. Furthermore, according to Caton, Gilliatt contradicted herself several times in her various court testimonies.Affidavit by Gilliatt Caton even claims that Gilliatt's nose appears to have been surgically removed, citing photographs.Meditopia, Ch. 3 Greg Caton's website The use of escharotics (caustic pastes) such as Cansema to treat skin cancer is "unproven" and can have "serious consequences", according to dermatologists.McDaniel S and Goldman GD, Consequences of Using Escharotic Agents as Primary Treatment for Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer, Archives of Dermatology 2002;138:1593-1596
Federal conviction In 2003, United States Federal agents from the joint task force (including U.S. FDA, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and local law enforcement) raided Caton's offices, factory and home.EDDI, Inc. Security Specialists "On September 17, 2003, a federal search warrant was executed at CATON's residence, Lumen Food Corporation, and an industrial site owned by CATON. All of these locations were in Lake Charles, Louisiana." As a result of the raid, Caton pleaded guilty in 2004 and was sentenced to 33 months in prison for weapons possession by a felon, and for defrauding customers and violating FDA regulations.Official Transcript of Pleas Hearing, Docket 04-20075 26 May 2004 Caton had received a previous felony conviction for counterfeiting in 1990.CBS-11 News, June 30, 2004
Caton filed for a writ of habeas corpus based upon ineffective counsel in 2005. This was denied with prejudice by the courts.Web Accessed pdf - Case 2:04-cr-20075-TLM-CMH Document 49 Filed 11/23/2005
Probation violation and extradition from Ecuador On 5 June 2006, after serving his sentence,US Patent Office document dated 19 Sept 2008 - PDF File "... on 5 June 2006 Caton began serving a 3 three year period of supervised release ..." Greg Caton was released on three years probation with specific restrictions against possession of firearms or manufacture of non-FDA approved materials.Court document dated August 24, 2004 (PDF file) Probation terms He and his family relocated to Ecuador in the summer of 2007.Meditopia, Ch. 3 "our family permanently moved to Ecuador in the summer of 2007" Alpha Omega Labs were reopened in June 2008.
On 27 October 2007, Caton was found in violation of the terms of his probation.US Patent Office document dated 19 Sept 2008 (PDF File) "Caton further tells us that because he could not fly to the United States he could not attend 27 October 2007 hearing in the Western District of Louisiana. As a result, Caton was in violation of the conditions of his release." In September 2008, a filing was made with the U.S. patent office in which he expressed a fear of arrest for violation of his probation, if he returned to the US.Website: Patent Interference 105,617 McK INTELLECTUAL CONCEPTS, LLC, (Inventor: Gregory James Caton) v.ZANNIER, INC.,(Inventor: Paul D. Manos) Patent 7,264,847 (This filing was made because Caton was a junior party to a lawsuit regarding his patent with Paul Manos.)
Caton's probation violation was reported to Interpol, and was placed in their database; it was reported on Interpol website on 30 September 2008. In February 2009, he was featured in Parade Magazines "On the Run In America" as an Interpol international fugitive.
On 3 December 2009, Caton was arrested at a checkpoint in Ecuador and held in prison. What followed was a complex set of legal manoeuvres involving multiple parties. According to vague reports by Cathryn Caton, his wife, these maneuvers included various members of the Ecuadorian judiciary and police officials. A judicial hearing on the case was scheduled in Guayaquil, Ecuador on 14 December 2009.Familia Caton denuncia secuestro (Spanish) 2010-01-27
Caton was sentenced in a Louisiana court in May 2010 to serve the remainder of his probation (24 months) in prison. He filed a motion of appeal on June 23, 2011, under the provision that the court failed to consider sentencing guidelines. This appeal was denied.UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.GREGORY JAMES CATON, Defendant-Appellant. No. 10-30459, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit June 23, 2011IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 10-30459 23 JUN 2011
Later life Caton returned to Ecuador and continued selling his products online. An interview in November 2016 on the One Radio Network podcast detailed his view of medical practice and the purported benefits from black salve.Interview One Radio Network, November 1, 2016 The well-known television physician Dr. Mehmet Oz conducted an investigation into black salve, culminating in an interview with Caton.Interview, Dr. Oz Show, May 10, 2017 Caton died on 15 December 2021 of a heart attack.
Authored works Caton, G.J.; Lumen: Food For A New Age, Calcasieu Graphics & Pressworks, 1986. Caton, Greg; MLM Fraud: A Practical Handbook for the Network Marketing Professional, (self-published), 1990.
Further reading Hurley, Dan, Natural Causes: Death, Lies, and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry. Broadway Publishers (2007)
References
External links Alpha Omega Lab site Interview with Dr. Oz over Cansema