By Physician’s Weekly blogger, Skeptical Scalpel
Naturopath Juli A. Mazi, who practices in Napa, California, was charged with wire fraud and making false statements related to healthcare matters. She is looking at up to 20 years in jail and possible six-figure fines.
Mazi sold “Covid-19 immunization pellets” supposedly containing a minute amount of Covid-19, which she told her patients would provide immunity to the virus for life. [Where did she find that minute amount of Covid-29?] She also claimed the three approved vaccines had toxic ingredients.
Purchase of a pellet included a fake vaccine immunization card that said the bearer had received the Moderna vaccine. Mazi instructed the patients to fill out the cards with the date they took the pellets.
Mazi’s website, still active at the time of this writing, does not mention Covid-19. On the website’s landing page is this statement, “Her doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine is an equivalent to the training of a medical doctor [I don’t think so], plus, she has considerable training in natural medicine techniques.”
She lists some tips for aging with grace such as the following:
“Hydrate—if you don’t have kidney issues drink ½ of your body weight (lbs.) in ounces of water daily.” So if you weigh 150 lbs., you should drink 75 ounces of water per day. That is about nine 8 ounce glassfuls. If you weigh 250 lbs., you would need over 15 glasses of water per day. However, do not take a job as a taxicab driver unless you have a bladder catheter
“Adaptogenic Herbs—Adaptogens such as Maca, Ginseng, Rhodiola, and [last but not least] Holy Basil help with energy, stamina and hormone balance.” According to a 2010 study, adaptogens are herbal pharmaceuticals that work something like this.
The caption for this figure says: “Adaptogens increase the state of non-specific resistance in stress and decrease sensitivity to stressors, which results in stress protection, and prolong the phase of resistance (stimulatory effect). Instead of exhaustion, a higher level of equilibrium (the homeostasis) is attained the heterostasis [sic]. The higher it [?] is, the better the adaptation to stress. Thus, the stimulating and anti-fatigue effect of adaptogens has been documented in both in animals and in humans.”
A simpler explanation is adaptogen effects allegedly change depending on whether you need stimulation or relaxation. Amanda Chantal Bacon, who Vox says is “the godmother of modern adaptogen awareness,” said adaptogens are “bidirectional.”
Back to the figure for a moment. In addition to being incomprehensible, the figure uses the terms tiredness, fatigue, and exhaustion, which essentially define each other.
You have got to love adaptogenic herb names. In addition to the ones mentioned above, we have cordyceps, reishi, schisandra chinensis, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice root), and ashwagandha.
According to an article in The New York Times, she was represented in court by a federal public defender. One would think she could pay for her own lawyer with the profits from selling fake immunization pellets for $243 each. The investigation revealed that in the first 5 months of this year, she had received over $200,000 through the online payment site Square
Holy Basil!
Skeptical Scalpel is a retired surgeon and was a surgical department chair and residency program director for many years. He is board-certified in general surgery and a surgical sub-specialty and has re-certified in both several times. For the last 9 years, he has been blogging at SkepticalScalpel.blogspot.com and tweeting as @SkepticScalpel. His blog has had more than 3,700,000 page views, and he has over 21,000 followers on Twitter.