BUSINESSMAN DEFENDS SALE OF 'NUTRIENT' AS DRUG TRIAL BEGINS

TAMPA - A nutrient advocate tells a federal jury that people are dying
because the FDA won't let him sell his product.

A pharmaceutical entrepreneur on trial for marketing what advocates
claim is a modern-day Fountain of Youth said Tuesday that ``there are
people dying because it can't be gotten.''

His product, a compound called liquid deprenyl citrate, is ``probably
the biggest kept secret in the world,'' said James T. Kimball of
Wesley Chapel.

But he's had to stop producing it since the government brought
criminal charges against him in August, Kimball told a federal jury.
And because of that, he said, people with Parkinson's disease or other
illnesses are suffering.

Kimball, 60, has been marketing liquid deprenyl citrate from a small
laboratory in Pasco County since 1990. He and his supporters say the
product, which they insist is a nutrient, has been proved safe and
effective in reducing the effects of aging, senility and some
brain-degenerating diseases.

But government regulators say Kimball is illegally making and
distributing a drug that is chemically linked to methamphetamine. The
product is similar if not identical, they say, to a medication that
the Food and Drug Administration only allows by prescription.

That drug, manufactured by Somerset Pharmaceutical Co. under the trade
name Eldepryl, has serious side effects if it is taken in excess or in
combination with certain foods and medications.

Kimball, charged with eight counts of conspiracy, distribution of a
misbranded drug and lying to federal authorities, is representing
himself in a trial that began in U.S. District Court in Tampa on Monday.

One of his former employees, Gaylord Hughes, is charged with a single
count of conspiracy; his attorney is David Weisbrod.

Kimball said in his opening statement Tuesday that neither the FDA nor
his company, Discovery Experimental & Development Inc. on State Road
54, has heard of problems linked to his product.

``There hasn't been a complaint that we know of in 10 years - that's
10 years - about the use of liquid deprenyl citrate,'' Kimball said.

Kimball also told jurors that he regularly takes dietary supplements
and once accidentally drank an entire bottle of his own mixture,
instead of the couple of drops he recommends.

``I was a bit wacky, I mean wired, like I had too much caffeine,'' he
said. ``But I didn't die. ... The public doesn't get enough
information about which of these supplements are good and which aren't.''

Kimball maintains that he carefully researched the law, including a
1994 statute that he says allows nutrient manufacturers to make
medical claims.

``It is my firm belief that every single thing we did was legal,'' he
said. ``I don't disobey laws.''

If convicted, Kimball faces potential prison time. The charges carry
maximum penalties of up to 28 years in prison and $2 million in fines,
but Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Rubinstein told the judge earlier
that Kimball likely faces three years behind bars.

The trial, before U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara, is expected to
last two to three weeks.