David Stephan and his wife were convicted by an Alberta jury last year of failing to provide the necessities of life to their toddler son. He died of meningitis in 2012.
After serving 4 months in jail, David Stephan was released on bail, pending an appeal that will be heard on March 9.
Last night, he was at Ave Maria promoting a supplement he claims can alleviate the symptoms of mental disorders from anxiety to bipolar.
Despite some negative attention on social media, Stephan says the seminar went well.
“There doesn’t appear to be nearly the opposition that it was made out to be online. It appears that there was a fair bit of smoke there.”
Stephan claims more than 3,000 Canadians take his product.
“What we’re promoting is supplements that have substantially helped a lot of people with mental health conditions. We’ve seen the benefits of empowering people with mental health and how it’s life-changing so that’s what we’re promoting is supplements that assist people in achieving mental health.”
About two dozen people attended the 90 minute presentation but not everyone was buying what Stephan was selling including John Moxin, who says he was taken aback when her heard Stephan would be hosting the seminar.
“I was just kind of surprised…that he had the stones, that he had the gall, that he had the nerve to actually presume to tell people anything about how to improve the quality of their lives,” says local resident John Moxin. “He certainly didn’t improve the quality of life for his child. That’s why I went. I went because I couldn’t believe that anybody would host him.”
Stephan says he’s heard from many people who share Moxin’s concerns
“To have one individual who brought up some concerns based off of what he’s been exposed to was to be, kind of, expected. I’ve worked with a lot of people that have had the same concerns as John. There’s polar opposites in regard to people’s perception of me. That opposition is to be expected. I’ve dealt with hundreds of people over the last few months that have had those same type of feelings towards myself. It’s just about putting the truth out there.”
Stephan says his supplement EMP can lessen and even eliminate the symptoms of disorders including bipolar, depression and anxiety. He spoke about the positive experience he and his family have had with the supplement. But Moxin doesn’t buy it.
“If they got better because of whatever they figured out, awesome and I’m really, really happy for them but that’s anecdotal and what worked for them may not work for somebody else. That’s why it needs to be rigorously tested in a clinical setting.”
Stephan claims EMP has been extensively studied with positive results and cites 31 studies as evidence. He says he’ll soon be promoting EMP in other communities as well.
“It’s kind of a tour at this point. There’s been an incredible amount of demand on myself. There’s a number of presentations that are lined up over the next month here. This is just the first of a few stops. Plans are to continue on helping people in a substantial way. Absolutely.”
Stephan said his next stop is in Fort St. John.
Moxin stood up to challenge Stephan’s claims, knowing his concerns would likely not be well received.
“It isn’t going to change their minds. It will not change their minds. I was not there to change anyone’s minds. I was there to demonstrate that there is opposition to this. Now they don’t have the excuse of ignorance. It has to be wilful blindness now.”
At the session, he was soon overwhelmed by vocal supporters of Stephan and the question period of the seminar was quickly brought to an end.
Moxin says he worries some who believe Stephan’s claims will forgo mainstream medical treatment in favour of supplements and could suffer as a result.
“If you’ve got a mental disorder, you can go your entire life with false therapies and suffer incredibly. Destroy your family, destroy your own life and you’ll never know. That’s the problem. That’s the insidious problem.”
During his presentation, Stephan said that mineral imbalances can be the biggest mediating factor in mental illness and that EMP, with an optimized content of 36 vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants, can correct those imbalances. He also claimed that almost every schoolyard shooting has involved Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of drugs that include Prozac and Zoloft and are mostly used to treat mood disorders. As of publication, MyPrinceGeorgeNow has been unable to verify this claim.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
