SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 16957 / April 10, 2001

UNITED STATES v. IVES HEALTH COMPANY AND M. KEITH IVES
01 Mag 0569 (S.D.N.Y.)

Keith Ives, the founder and president of an Oklahoma-based vitamin and nutritional supplement manufacturer, Ives Health Company, was arrested on April 4th for fraudulently advertising and distributing a purported drug for AIDS and HIV. The Commission suspended trading in Ives Health stock on March 5th because of "questions regarding the accuracy of public statements by Ives Health to investors concerning, among other things, a product being marketed by Ives Health for treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)." Exchange Act Release No. 44038.

A criminal complaint, unsealed on April 5th, charges Keith Ives and Ives Health Co. with fraudulently distributing an unapproved new drug, in violation of FDA law, as well as with wire fraud. According to the criminal complaint, Ives Health claimed in a press release on February 15th, as well as on its website, that "T-Factor" would increase the T-cell count of HIV-positive individuals, and had been tested by its inventor, "Dr. Robert Slayton-Bedeen," in Jakarta, Indonesia. The so-called "Java Project" was conducted in association with the World Health Organization, according to the company's claims. The criminal complaint against Ives and his company alleges, among other things, that T-Factor was never approved by the FDA, that there is no record of a "Java Project," and that the World Health Organization is not aware of the product, its inventor or any testing.