This is faith-healer Adam Miller:

His currently-unavailable website is full of the sort of language that only Deepak Chopra would appreciate:

We are never separated from our core self. One’s pure self. We know it well. And innately we truly know where to go to discover the changes we need. The discovery is in the connection. And holiness is our birthright. The Universe runs all existence and the same energy of life-source streams and animates all. It is in the return to this knowing, in learning the guidelines, and in seeing ones circumstances for what they allow that creates miraculous transformations.

Riiiiight.

A glimpse at his website (oh, we can still access it) shows just how awful a person this guy is. Miller claims that he can heal:

cancer of any kind and any stage

tumors

fibromyalgia

spinal injuries

injuries of any kind

toxicity / poisoning

migraines

back issues

diabetes

AIDS and blood diseases, such as Hep C

Seriously. (And those are just the first items on his list.)

So last December, Stephanie Guttormson decided to call him out on it on her Think Stephtically YouTube channel:

Adam Miller is a charlatan, he’s a swindler, he’s a snake oil salesman. You risk your lives delaying or forgoing proper medical treatment by going to him for help. And more importantly, for believing his unsubstantiated claims.

There’s a lot of sarcasm and snark throughout that video, but the premise — that Miller’s claims aren’t backed up by science — is very fair. It’s dangerous for anyone to go to a faith-healer like him in lieu of seeing a real doctor. Stephanie posted follow-up videos in April.

Miller, who clearly hasn’t heard of the Streisand effect, made his own rebuttal video recently in which he pointed out Stephanie is transgender (which is obviously irrelevant) and works for the Richard Dawkins Foundation (which is also irrelevant, since the video was on her personal YouTube channel).

Then, last week, Miller filed a lawsuit against Stephanie:

Because Guttormson’s defamatory statements are still available on the internet and, barring an order from this Court, those statements will not be removed from the internet, permanent injunctive relief is necessary to prevent further irreparable harm to Mr. Miller’s business reputation and goodwill.

Oh, I’m sure Miller is ruining his own reputation by taking the nuclear approach toward one of his critics…

I was actually surprised to see this passage in the lawsuit suggesting that Stephanie’s videos were damaging his company:

As a result of Guttormson’s false statements, potential clients have refused to work with Mr. Miller, causing Mr. Miller significant financial loss in an amount to be proven at trial.

Wow. That’s fantastic. All the more reason for even more people to call out this sort of thing.

So what’s the substance of the complaint?

1) Copyright Infringement. Miller says Guttormson’s use of his clips doesn’t constitute “fair use” because A) She used too many clips and B) There was advertising at the end of her video so that must mean she was using his work to make money.

2) She’s hurting his business by criticizing him. (Which I guess means Dr. Oz is gonna have a field day…)

3) Defamation. “Guttormson made the statements with the intention to hold Mr. Miller up to ridicule and/or hurt Mr. Miller’s business and goodwill.”

I’m not a lawyer, but the last two charges seem especially frivolous and designed to stifle any criticism of his claims. As for the copyright/advertising issues, there seems to be no problem with fair use. It’s clips with commentary — standard online fare. Mike Masnick at Techdirt dismisses the advertising claim:

The best the lawsuit can do is claim that the inclusion at the end of the video of a couple of “advertisements” makes it commercial. That, alone, probably isn’t even enough to claim this is “commercial use,” (which is generally more about selling the actual work or directly profiting). Plus, it’s not even accurate. The “advertisements” aren’t really advertisements at all, but rather a friendly acknowledgement of who sent her the video, with a link to that guy’s own website and audio bookstore, with a mention that Guttormson appears on that guy’s podcast every so often.

It’s possible a judge could just throw out this lawsuit… but it would be entertaining to watch Miller squirm in court as he attempts to prove how he’s completely legitimate.

In any case, a lawsuit is a scary thing, and Stephanie is raising funds to help cover her legal fees. Feel free to chip in if you can. (Stephanie told me that if she ends up not needing the money for whatever reason, she will likely donate it to a few different charities.)

If I don’t need to spend it I will likely put to a vote of the community which of a handfull of orgs to donate it to.

There’s also another way to help. Just share this article (or others like it) anywhere you can so that whenever someone searches online for Adam Miller the faith-healer, they come across criticism of his methods and claims, and they see what lengths he goes to in order to shut down any of his opponents.

Ultimately, the only person Miller should blame for this implosion is himself.



