Lance Armstrong's chiropractor paid to endorse machine

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong is marketed worldwide as an EPFX success story.

Scores of EPFX executives and operators claim that Armstrong was treated with the device during the grueling bike race. His name and photo adorn dozens of Web sites and newsletters touting the EPFX, a device that purports to diagnose and heal disease with radio frequencies.

Even Armstrong's chiropractor, Jeffrey Spencer, wrote in an EPFX newsletter that the device played an "important role" in the 2003 U.S. cycling team victory.

But Armstrong, through his lawyer, said he has never heard of the device, has never been treated with it, and doesn't endorse it.

Lawyer William Stapleton of Austin, Texas, told The Seattle Times he has sent cease-and-desist letters to EPFX operators and Web sites, demanding they stop any false claims.

Spencer said he did use the device to treat some members of the U.S. cycling team during the 2003 and 2007 Tour de France, but never used it on Armstrong.

He now says the EPFX played only a minor role in the team's success. He declined to identify whom he treated.

Spencer, licensed in California, said he was shocked that EPFX operatives distributed materials saying he used the machine to treat Armstrong.

"I feel like I've been hijacked," he said.

The Times found that Spencer was paid by promoters of the EPFX, manufactured by William Nelson, a federal fugitive wanted on health-care-fraud charges.

Spencer has been paid $20,000 since 2003 to speak at four EPFX conferences. At last year's convention in Budapest, he trained attendees on how to use the device to diagnose ailments and treat injury.

Spencer also has sold his DVD sports-medicine lecture series through The Quantum Alliance, in Calgary, Alberta, EPFX's largest distributor. He said he also promoted another energy device, a bedsheet system that purportedly sends therapeutic frequencies through its silver fibers.

Spencer denied he has used the EPFX to diagnose or heal.

Yet he admitted he wrote a testimonial in an EPFX newsletter, saying the device could deliver long-distance therapies to cyclists during races.

Spencer said he is retracting these published statements. He said he wrote them when he was tired and distracted while traveling.

He said he also will send out cease-and-desist letters to Nelson, The Quantum Alliance and EPFX operators.

"I would certainly not ever use this device again or recommend it to anybody," he said.

Michael J. Berens: 206-464-2288 or mberens@seattletimes.com; Christine Willmsen: 206-464-3261 or cwillmsen@seattletimes.com