Alex Chiu

Alexander Yuan-Chun Chiu (born February 8, 1971) is an American internet entrepreneur who sells a number of alternative health products, most famously a set of controversial "immortality devices".
Products
Magnetic devices
Alex Chiu markets plastic magnetic rings which he calls Immortality Devices. He claims that these can arrest and even reverse the aging process, lessen the intensity of most diseases, and lead to physical immortality when worn nightly. Chiu claims that the rings work by increasing the body's "cellular magnetic flux". There are no theories of biological aging or clinical research that support these claims.
The rings are worn on the little finger of each hand and must be aligned in a certain direction. Wearing them incorrectly is supposed to reverse their effect, greatly harming the user's health.
Chiu provides free directions on how to construct his Immortality Devices. The devices consist of an adjustable ring of plastic (grey or white for normal 1000 gauss , black for neodymium at 21,000 gauss ) with teeth. Two magnets are set in each ring, one above and one below the finger, and they are marked on the plastic with a positive and negative sign.
His rings come in a cheaper and weaker variety of earth magnet, and neodymium, a superior form which he claims has a much stronger effect on health. Chiu also sells magnetic foot braces, which accompany the rings. Chiu has claimed in the past to be working on a true "heal the handicap" machine, based upon coil magnets, and possibly electromagnetism.
Chiu claims that his ring system targets energy points, in the same manner as acupressure or acupuncture. Several pre-existing theories on his page are credited as being his own invention. James Randi has suggested that Chiu's magnetic immortality products are quack remedies, without basis in science.
In 2006 Chiu began development of the Gorgeouspil and Super Chi Flush products.
Food and ingested medicine
Chiu's Gorgeouspil is advertised as being able to make its users "more and more gorgeous every day", and Chiu himself uses them. If taken daily in conjunction with the rings, Chiu claims that Gorgeouspils can alter the appearance of the user, eventually making them look "even more gorgeous than supermodels". He claims that his pill can change facial bone structure, shrink the skull, straighten the spine and cure any physical deformity. None of these claims have been independently verified.
Chiu's website also offers a Super Chi Flush herbal compound which he implies can cure herpes and cancer, although the site is careful to make no specific medical claims.
Chiu has also sold American ginseng and green tea through his website, which he claims enhance the effects of his immortality rings. He has also sold some sort of rose oil product.
In 2006, the Golden Gate Better Business Bureau expressed concern that Chiu's site presents both herb and medicine products as "drugs", a claim which is not covered by the FDA. Chiu's site contains no disclaimer that his statements have not been reviewed by the FDA.
Fortune telling
Chiu's website sells Bible Decoder software which he claims can predict the future by observing the implications of secret codes in the Old Testament, using existing bible code systems.
Chiu also believes in the use of I-Ching in telling the future, and has a website for the purpose of giving readings for people.
Business dealings
Refund policy
No refund policy is stated on Chiu's website. A legal action against Chiu prompted by Kilpatrick Stockton LLP based in Raleigh, NC, is due to take place on July 22, 2007, pending compliance with a customer refund request filed in May 2007.
Alex Chiu has an unsatisfactory rating at the Golden Gate Better Business Bureau, with 23 refund-related complaints which Chiu failed to respond to.<ref name="goldengate.bbb.org" />
Natural cures
Alex's site and rings were mentioned in Kevin Trudeau's publications.
Free rings for advertising
Chiu offered an online program which distributes free rings for clicks on a banner or link that directed to his site. For 50 clicks, an advertiser affiliate would receive a free pair of basic rings.
His website is available in a number of languages, including English, and has links to pages explaining his plans for, among other things, a worldwide corporation, a device for teleportation and a method for exactly divining the future. One of his web pages claims that he is not Taiwanese but Chinese and that his device for eternal life is not designed for Taiwanese who deny being Chinese.
According to his website, he follows the Jewish religion and bases much of his philosophy on the Old Testament (referred to as the Tanakh by Jews). He claims that immortality is possible as described in the Tanakh, and offers predictions as to who he believes will be the Messiah. He is also a supporter of the state of Israel, believing its establishment to be a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. His first name in Chinese is 'Yuan Chun', meaning prime king, or prime lord, or prime male.
Alex Chiu has also achieved internet fame through pop-culture flash movies called animutations. His rings were parodically compared to the power-rings used by the Planeteers in the Captain Planet series.
He has also been featured on the podcast Web Drifter with Martin Sargent on the Revision3 Network. While in a cemetery, he said to Martin Sargent, "I am a loser, girls don't like me...it doesn't help girls keep on thinking you're Frankenstein, because, you know, you think you can make people live forever." The podcast also featured Alex Chiu singing a karaoke version of Alphaville's "Forever Young".
An allegation is also made in the podcast that Alex Chiu has bought over three million dollars of real estate in the California area through the sale of his rings. Alex was brought back on the show several times, and on Episode 28 of Sargent's 'Infected', Alex was made the official movie reviewer to secure his role in the series. In it he reviewed Superman Returns and claimed (at Sargent's suggestion) that his rings could have saved Christopher Reeve, but that he denied them to him because he wanted to play the role of Superman.
While not addressing his rings specifically, magnet therapy in general has been featured in the Penn & Teller: Bullshit episode on alternative medicine, where it was shown to probably be a placebo.

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