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1. This was no an embarrassing experience for Dr. Kruse, but your article neglected to mention several important parts of the story. As a follower of the “paleosphere”, I’ve become somewhat familiar with Dr. Kruse’s antics over the last several months and fear that this latest stunt is just another publicity grab. The “Tweet” in question came from a parody account that had been in operation for at least several weeks and that Dr. Kruse was aware of (as several of the followers of the account had “retweeted” its messages to him). The account had quite a few fans in the nutrition community, including Jimmy Moore, the head of the low-carb cruise on which Dr. Kruse was scheduled to speak. The majority of the Tweets were direct quotes from Dr. Kruse’s writings, which often contain bizarre generalizations and misinterpretations of scientific literature. These direct quotes were indicated by quotation marks. Several other Tweets, not surrounded by quotation marks, were written in Kruse’s “voice.” I don’t have the exact text of the offending Tweet in front of me, but it was very clearly not a threat of bioterrorism. In fact, it referred to the fact that Dr. Kruse used a stick of dynamite as a prop at a recent conference talk (at Paleofx in Austin, TX) and claimed in a recent Tedx talk, available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qNEeqCACwo), that he cultured MRSA, a highly dangerous and contagious bacteria, slathered it on his torso, injected himself with it, and then underwent elective surgery (without informing his family, his doctor, or the staff of his own medical practice of his actions until much later). The term “bio hack”, used in the Tweet, is one that Dr. Kruse uses frequently to refer to his brand of self-experimentation. It does not refer to acts of terrorism. It is also worth nothing that this “cruise debacle” occurred just on the heels of the news that Dr. Kruse had been suspended last fall by the American Association for Neurological Surgeons (AANS) for lying under oath during a deposition (http://www.aansneurosurgeon.org/210112/8/1210).

   Since he was removed from the cruise, Dr. Kruse had publicly identified people he considers his enemies, insinuated that they are under investigation by the FBI, and that they will do hard prison time. His claims have been directly contradicted by FBI Agent Baker, who informed several members of the paleo community that while authorities are interested in finding the person who called (or emailed, depending on the news story you read) a threat into the ship, they recognize the Twitter account for what it was–a parody. Nevertheless, Kruse seems determined to bring not just the Twitter account owner, but anyone who contributed to it, to justice (apparently overlooking the fact that 90% of the posts were direct quotes from him). Just yesterday, Kruse posted this barely sensical diatribe on the website http://www.freetheanimal.com, which is run by one of his allies in the paleo community:

   “Jack Kruse // May 9, 2012 at 17:42
   I have a conundrum here. What was done to me will be found in justice. What kind of
   justice, I am unsure as yet. But I have a consciousness about the movement that this
   “twatter” undermined by the actions said. They people who are complicit in this are
   crafting a message that my response has damaged the movement. Quite the
   contrary……the “twat” opened that can of worms. I have to protect that emotion in
   spite of my anger, because the movement and helping others is part of my mission.
   The ‘respected leaders’ have to back “paleo the movement”, but neurosurgery pays
   my bills, so I must protect my house first and foremost. I have hired peopel to do just
   that on Sunday night as I was driven back to Houston after being removed from the
   boat. The first person I called was Robb Wolf because I knew what he was crafting
   was just hit with a torpedo from the “in paleo crowd”. The respected leaders forget to
   easily, because Paleo pays their bills. But I promise you the “twat” who opened that
   account will be found and prosecuted in the court of law and in the court of public
   opinion. To those who fed that ‘twatter’ account……..hire someone now, because
   the law says if you fed it……..you own it because of what happened. See
   consequences do matter when the federal government resources are wasted. And if
   they choose not do deal with it I have plenty of time and money to follow up to see to
   it that the rest of this community knows precisely who put our message at risk. When
   you came after me you opened the door, my response is called defense.”

   I share this information with you so that you know the story of Dr. Kruse’s expulsion from the cruise is likely more complicated than he indicated. Although he has portrayed himself as an innocent victim, he has a long history of bullying people who whom he disagrees, making threats to other doctors in the paleo community, and presenting false medical information to the followers of his forum. Several people have brought him to the attention to the state medical board, though I do not know if he is, in fact, under investigation. Unfortunately, this incident on the cruise has fueled his publicity machine and will likely bring more followers to his website. I would hope that rather than taking his words at face value, they do their due diligence and do a little background research on the man. Although the question of who made the call (or sent the email) to Carnival is an interesting one, I think the bigger question is how a man who is so clearly unhinged maintains his license to practice medicine. I would encourage you or someone at your organization to investigate that story.

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2. First sentence should read, “This was no doubt an embarrassing . . .”

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