Alfredo Darrington Bowman (26 November 1933 - 6 August 2016), better known as Dr. Sebi, () was a self-proclaimed healer of Honduran origin who claimed to heal with herbs and diet. Although he used the name Dr. Sebi, Bowman was not a doctor.
Bowman was a vegan and based his concepts on various pseudoscience claims. He believed in the discredited alkaline diet, denied germ theory as a source of disease, taught AIDS denialism, and mixed in faux-afrocentric claims about the characteristics of Africans and Africans in the diaspora.
Video Alfredo Bowman
Biography
Early years
Bowman was born in Ilanga, Honduras. He started as a herbal healer first learning from his grandmother and then from a Mexican herbalist, who Bowman claimed to have healed him. Bowman moved to the United States and, according to his literature, began an herbal healing practice after being dissatisfied with traditional medical practices of his asthma, diabetes, and impotency.
Maps Alfredo Bowman
Career
He began another practice in Honduras he called the USHA Research Institute in a village called Usha near La Ceiba, Honduras. Bowman made vast amounts of money, more than $3000 a day, after giving advice to some notable celebrities including Lisa Lopes, Steven Seagal, John Travolta, Eddie Murphy and Michael Jackson. After the lawsuits in New York he relocated to Los Angeles, California.
Lawsuits
In 1987, New York City charged him with a criminal charge of practicing medicine without a license. It was recognized that "Dr. Sebi" was not a physician, he was acquitted because jurors claimed the state failed to show he made a medical diagnosis. He was later sued by the New York Attorney General for consumer fraud and prevented from making therapeutic claims for his products.
People of the State of New York v. Ogun Herbal Research Institute
At a 1993 Congressional hearing, Shirley Stark, who headed the NYAG's Consumer Fraud Section, indicated that a civil suit against Bowman's company had been successful, stating:
"A particularly glaring example of unsubstantiated therapeutic claims made for herbal supplements occurred a few years ago when the USHA Herbal Research Institute, run by a self-styled nutritionist calling himself "Dr. Sebi," advertised in the Village Voice and the Amsterdam News that "AIDS HAS BEEN CURED" by USHA and that they also specialize in cures for Leukemia, sickle cell anemia, herpes, lupus and other diseases. For an initial fee of $500 and $80 for each additional visit, patients were told they could be cured of AIDS and other diseases. The "cures" consisted of various herbal products, for each of which USHA made therapeutic claims. Eva Therapeutic Salve, for example, was referred to in USHA's brochure as . . . "very effective on major skin problems, in prenatal use, against poor circulation, cancer, cysts, hemorrhoids and arthritis." In fact, these claims were false. Our office filed suit against USHA and entered a consent agreement under which USHA can no longer make therapeutic claims for any of its products"
The consent judgement prohibits the Ogun Herbal Research Institute (d/b/a "USHA"), Fig Tree Products Company, Alfredo Bowman, Maa Bowman, and their successors, heirs and assigns from (i) claiming that their products or services could cure, relieve or alter in any way the course of AIDS, herpes, leukemia, sickle cell anemia, lupus, or any other human disease or physical condition, (ii) distributing or advertising such products, and (iii) diagnosing, treating or prescribing for any human disease without a valid state license by the New York State Education Department. A sum of $900 for costs was assessed to the defendants.
Alfredo Bowman and Dr. Sebi LLC v. Michael Jackson
In 2004, Bowman claims that he was not paid in full for an alleged treatment for Michael Jackson to help him overcome painkiller addiction to Demerol and morphine with his African Bio-Electric Cell Food Therapy, which apparently lasted six months at an Aspen retreat providing him with "special herb compounds" and trained cooks. Bowman claims that $380,000 was outstanding and sought $600,000 in lost revenue of the deferment of clients and various speaking arrangements after Jackson's brother Randy only gave him $10,000. Raymone Bain, a publicist of Jackson acknowledges that Bowman was a friend of Jackson but denies that his client received any "professional treatment" or that he had any painkiller addiction. The case was dismissed in 2015 for lack of prosecution.
Arrest and death controversy
Bowman was arrested for money laundering in March 2016 while attempting to transfer from a plane from the United States to a private plane at the Juan Manuel Gálvez de Roatan Airport while carrying $37,000 in cash. On 28 May 2016 he was arrested again carrying $50,000 and taken into custody. He was first released pending a court hearing on 6 June 2016, only to be re-arrested by the Public Ministerio on money laundering charges. He was held for several weeks in a Honduran prison as his family was attempting to obtain his release and subsequently died en route to Hospital D'Antoni on 6 August 2016 due to complications of pneumonia after police officials realized the severity of his health.
There is skepticism among his followers who question his arrest claiming that there was a conspiracy to silence him because of his holistic claims and its impact by promoting a healthy lifestyle and avoiding the expensive cost of pharmaceutical drugs, that grew attention in his latter years through social media despite not being FDA-Approved or a licensed physician. The exact date, length and charges of his arrest and incarceration has not been confirmed, as well as his jail conditions while in custody.
Some of Bowman's supporters suggest that he was ignored and later killed because his teachings differed from the medical establishment.
Personal life
Bowman considered himself an African, not an "African-Honduran", but an African in Honduras.
At the time of his death, he had seventeen living children. His maternal grandfather was from Haiti.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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