Phony AIDS Elixir Is Water, FDA Says

A Rancho Palos Verdes man was arrested by U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigators Friday on charges of peddling bottles of water as a special new treatment for HIV/AIDS, arthritis and aging.

A 16-ounce bottle of Steven Tondre’s EXP sold for $50 and bore a label that read: “Warning: Continued use of this product may cause doctors to become an endangered species.”

Authorities said an FDA laboratory analysis of EXP showed that it was water.

Tondre, 43, was charged with two counts of selling a misbranded or unapproved drug intending to defraud or mislead.

A Los Angeles federal magistrate ordered him released on $50,000 bail, pending arraignment Feb. 26.

According to a government affidavit, Tondre came under investigation in 1999 when an FDA investigator logged onto his Internet home page, titled “The Expediter.”

Tondre described himself on his Web site as “an independent physicist/scientist” with degrees in physics and engineering and advanced training in alternative medicine and metaphysics.

EXP, he said on the Web site, works on the principle of “enhanced oxygenization.”

Though declining to reveal its ingredients, allegedly for competitive reasons, Tondre said the product was “a totally safe and nontoxic immune system-enhancing, antiviral and anti-pathogenic/microbial agent” derived from “natural minerals and herbs and enhanced with some modern technology.”

He said “hundreds” of HIV/AIDS patients had been using EXP with remarkable success.

While insisting that EXP was not a “cure” for HIV or AIDS, Tondre said it “has been shown to remove all signs of the virus from the body.” His Web site included purported testimonials from HIV and AIDS patients.

Tondre also touted EXP as effective in slowing, stopping and even reversing the ravages of aging, including wrinkling and sagging skin, joint pain, allergies, bleeding gums, loss of mental acuity and sexual dysfunction.

He claimed that he was 50 and had the look and stamina of a 20-year-old as a result of taking EXP.

Over the course of the last year and a half, FDA investigators bought several bottles of EXP over the Internet and tracked Tondre on visits to the post office, where he allegedly mailed the product to purchasers.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said it was not known how many people had purchased EXP from Tondre.