Dr. Andrew Weil (born 1942) is a world-famous United States physician. He is one of the leading proponents of integrative medicine. He founded Weil Lifestyles LLC.

He received both his undergraduate degree in biology (with a focus on botany) and his medical degree from Harvard University. Weil's first book was The Natural Mind, published in 1971. It was concerned with psychotropic drugs, and it posited a human drive toward altered states of consciousness. In it, he writes about the advantages of "stoned thinking" in understanding health and diagnosing illnesses. The book also discusses other means of altering one's consciousness, such as daily meditation techniques.

He is currently employed as a professor of internal medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he is the director and founder of the Program in Integrative Medicine (PIM). Weil's general view is that patients do best utilizing both mainstream and alternative medicine. In general, he believes that mainstream medicine is well-suited to crisis intervention, and alternative medicine is best utilized for prevention and health maintenance. Nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction are emphasized in almost all of Weil's health works.

Drug Usage & Ideals

Weil is

Dr. Weil claims that humans have an innate need to alter their consciousness, and that there is no such thing as good or bad drugs, merely that some individuals have good or bad relationships with certain substances. Despite this, Weil's personal history with the Drug Culture is not very well-known. He studied under Dr. Timothy Leary at Harvard, and studied marijuana with Dr. Lester Grinspoon in the late 1960s.

Honors

As an internationally recognized expert on medicinal herbs, mind-body interactions, and alternative medicine, Dr. Weil has graced the cover of Time Magazine in 1997 and 2005. He has even been honored by having a psychedelic mushroom named in

Vitamin supplement sales controversy

Early in 2006, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) questioned whether Weil, as he claims, has no financial interest in the sales of his personal brand of vitamin supplements. Weil claims all profits from these sales go to the Weil Foundation, which supports research in alternative medicine.

However, a front-page story in CSPI's newsletter, Nutrition Action, reported that a 2003 contract that Weil signed with drugstore.com to sell the supplements, made public when the online pharmacy sued him for failing to adequately promote them, provided that Weil himself would be paid monthly honoraria that would total $1.6 million over the five years of the contract; that 1% of the supplement sales from both Weil's own website and drugstore.com would be donated to the foundation and that his company, Weil Lifestyle, would receive commissions of up to 30% on those sales. The newsletter put the total Weil and his associated entities could earn from the deal at $16 million.

A review of the IRS Form 990s filed by the foundation found, however, that they reported no income from Weil through 2003 and 2004. CSPI tried to contact Weil himself to explain whether administrative expenses, salaries or consulting fees might explain this disparity, but he did not respond to their requests.

Since being founded in 2002, the Weil Foundation has given out four grants totaling just $60,000. Half of that went to Weil's own PIM at Arizona .

The report also alleged that Weil mischaracterized two studies showing that regular consumption of Vitamin E which he advocates, claims to use and sells in large quantities, does little to prevent heart disease or cancer, contrary to his claims. Likewise, it challenged the health claims Weil makes for coenzyme Q10, evening primrose oil and his "Energy Support Formula."

Works

He is the author of such best-selling books such as Natural Mind, From Chocolate to Morphine, The Marriage of the Sun and Moon, Health and Healing, Spontaneous Healing, 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, Eating Well for Optimum Health, and The Healthy Kitchen. Dr. Weil's latest work, Healthy Aging, was published in October of 2005.

Reference

• Center for Science in the Public Interest, January/February 2006; "Supplementing Their Income?: How Celebrities Turn Trust Into Cash," Nutrition Action.

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