Call Kurtis Undercover: Incredible Claims of Fixing HIV, Cancer and Rebuilding Heart Valves
RANCHO CORDOVA (CBS13) — Inside the Fairfield Inn on Gold Center Drive, our CBS13 investigation found Dr. James Lovelace and his wife Margaret Mary seeing people in a hotel room. The family of an 87-year-old Fair Oaks woman asked us to investigate the couple after uncovering her receipts and canceled checks totaling thousands of dollars to "Cordova Chiropractic".
The receipts show the majority of that money went toward supplements they sold her.
"It would take her a half hour to get 'em down." said daughter Maria Patton.
"And she's not even sure why she's taking them," said her son Waldo.
"What is she thinking going to see a doctor in a hotel?" Maria asked.
CBS13 has learned Dr. James Lovelace has not had a Chiropractor's license in California since 2004 when the state revoked it, because he didn't have a physical address. He never challenged the case against his license. Yet, their 87-year-old mother told us, she thought she's been seeing a Chiropractor.
READ THE REPORT: Revoked License (2004)
"He's taking advantage of people," daughter Mary said. "How dare you do this to my mom."
I FELT THEY TRIED TO HELP ME
Their 87-year-old mother who does not want to be identified defends the couple saying she's gone to them for decades, dating back to when they had a Chiropractor's office. She says they told her they retired and moved to Reno.
"He comes here once a month and he sees people," she said referring to her visits to the Fairfield Inn.
She told us they've performed muscle tests and adjustments on her in the last ten years and the couple told her she has parasites in her shoulder. She showed us the supplements they sold her, to keep her "body in balance". She says she easily takes twenty pills a day.
"I felt they tried to help me," she said.
When asked how much money she's given them over the years, she admits thousands.
"Do you think it was worth it?" I asked.
"I don't know," she answered.
She admits she prefers the holistic approach to her health. After her children told her, Dr. Lovelace has not had a Chiropractor's license since 2004, she still has no ill feelings toward him or his wife.
"If I'm honest, how many doctors mess up who have license?" she said. "I have to think on my own; what is right for me."
UNDERCOVER
CBS13 wanted to see what happens during one of these appointments, so our team went to one on a Sunday morning. Our producer told them her shoulder was bothering her. Dr. Lovelace's wife, Margaret Mary met our two undercover team members in the hotel lobby for the $100 appointment where she sat down with us to explain what they've done for people and answered our questions.
With three hidden cameras trained on her, our team was surprised to capture the many ways Margaret Mary claims to have helped people.
MIRACULOUS CLAIMS
"I tell people what they're going to get in the future," she boasted.
Undercover Producer: So like what does the $100 get me?
Margaret Mary: Well we find out what is wrong with you.
Undercover Producer: Do you guys do adjustments?
Margaret Mary: If it's needed.
She claims she's a nutritionist, and confirms what the 87-year-old told us, that they come from Reno once a month to see people at this hotel.
Undercover Producer: Are you guys then Chiropractors?
Margaret Mary: Yeah. My husband's a retired Chiropractor.
She then shared some more impressive claims.
"We rebuild heart valves," she said.
She didn't stop there, claiming they got rid of cancer tumors.
"We've fixed four people from HIV so far," she said. "We can find it before the MD's can find it."
Undercover Producer: Are you a doctor?
Margaret Mary: No. I just had a half million dollars of doctors seminars.
INSIDE ROOM 119
Our undercover team headed to room 119 where they met Dr. Lovelace. He's now in his eighties. Inside the hotel room, was a portable chiropractic table. There was also a divider, to separate the area where our producer was seen and the hotel room bed.
Our team describes how the couple used magnets and a device with a green light as they analyzed her. She says Dr. Lovelace lifted her legs and counted, while Margaret Mary tapped on her body with magnets.
The hour long appointment, ended with Margaret Mary escorting our undercover team to the lobby where she went over what the couple uncovered. She drew this diagram and explained to our undercover producer she was suffering from more than a shoulder problem. Margaret Mary said she had a toxic stomach which is shutting down her cardiovascular system.
"The shoulder also has to do with your heart, which your heart is in necrosis," she said. "So your heart needs to be rebuilt."
Our undercover observer explains everything said about our producer inside the hotel room.
"We went all the way from major internal stress, to stomach problems, to a blockage, to heart problems and all he was doing was feet up and feet down."
Margaret Mary scheduled our undercover producer to come back the next morning to deal with her shoulder and go over a plan. At that $45 appointment, Margaret Mary wrote down how she needed to start a $518 "Heart" program" and a $72 dollar "Cereb" program for her brain.
She also gave our producer handwritten instructions including, "Walk 2 Blocks Today", Wear 'Belt' 30 days, Do Not Sit for 30 minutes for six days, No twisting from the waist forever, No standing one (sic) one leg forever."
She also wrote down they would be back down seeing people at this hotel on May 8, 9 and 10.
NUTRITIONIST VERSUS PRACTICING MEDICINE
We showed our undercover video to UC Davis Director of Sports Nutrition, Dr. Liz Applegate.
"Everything they were saying was a medical diagnosis," she said.
Applegate has authored several text books on nutrition and says a nutritionist cannot make medical claims.
"It's against the law for anyone else, let alone an ill practicing nutritionist to do that," she said.
CONFRONTATION
On Monday morning, at checkout time, our crew caught up with the couple as they brought out their equipment and loaded it up into their car with Nevada license plates.
I introduced myself before telling Margaret Mary, "You say you can see what people get before they get it. How do you do that?"
When she didn't answer, I directed my attention to the former Chiropractor.
"Dr. Lovelace. What are you doing inside that hotel room?"
"Nothing," he initially said. With his wife saying no comment in the background, he then said, "Well if it's anything, it's just nutrition." He later said, "We sleep there".
I directed my questions back to Margaret Mary whom we captured on our hidden cameras making the impressive claims.
"You claim you got rid of HIV. You claim you got rid of cancer tumors. How can you say that?" I asked.
"Cancel, Cancel, Cancel," she responded.
"I don't know what that means," I replied as she kept repeating, "Cancel, cancel, cancel".
They tried to get back into the side door of the hotel, but were locked out.
"Are you operating without a license?" I asked Dr. Lovelace.
"Cancel, cancel, cancel," she replied.
Lovelace then said, "We're not doing Chiropractic."
"But you're diagnosing people and treating them," I responded. "On what grounds are you doing that?"
Margaret Mary intervened ordering him not to answer my questions saying, "this is a cancel".
Later, Lovelace said, "You're doing a false story," yet he wouldn't explain what is inaccurate.
While loading up the car, Margaret Mary said, "It's convoluted and inappropriate."
I told her we have all afternoon if they'd like to sit down with us and explain everything. They rejected our offer, got in the car and drove away while waving goodbye. We asked Dr. Lovelace and Margaret Mary to give us the names of the people they helped fix cancer, HIV and heart valves. After that day, we never heard from them again.
RELIEVED FAMILY
Maria Patton and brother Waldo are relieved. They convinced their mom, to stop seeing Dr. Lovelace, and to never give the couple another cent.
"I'm very grateful for my daughter who got me out," the 87-year-old said.
SUPPLEMENT COMPANY's RESPONSE
CBS13 reached out to the supplement company Standard Process, with some additional claims Margaret Mary made on hidden camera about their products and received this statement.
Standard Process makes none of these claims. We haven't even been in business for 100 years! As far as the ailments listed go, our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. No, the FDA does not have an office at Standard Process, nor do we have an office at the FDA. With regards to James Lovelace, based on the facts we know about him, he continues to be eligible for a Standard Process account through our distributor due to his years of clinical experience advising patients on nutrition, and we will continue to sell products to him if he agrees to cease making inaccurate statements about our company and its products, and he agrees to complete further education about our products. In 2001, there was a record conversion. Mr. Lovelace was a customer at the time and has been ever since.
CORDOVA CHIROPRACTIC
The couple has people write checks to Cordova Chiropractic. We checked with the City of Rancho Cordova which says it could not find a business license for a company by that name dating back to the 1980's. We did find a company with the same name in Watsonville, which says they've never heard of Dr. Lovelace.
EDITOR NOTE
Our investigation has captured the attention of the California Chiropractic Board and the California Medical Board. We will air what they have to say about our findings on Monday, May 2 at 10 p.m.
