user_load Data Inconsistent

I'm getting a seemingly random and irreproducible, but linked, set of bugs when using content_profile- the data that comes back in user_load is different from the data in the node (such as a node_load). I'm not totally 100% on how the data is serialized and cached in the user object, but there are some bugs such that the data can get corrupted, and I haven't found any method to correct it short of direct database manipulation (and that only made the problem worse- user_load brings up less data than before, even after restoring the modified field to what it was!). Is there a way to resync the two sets of data? Clearing the cache doesn't do it; it seems to be serialized into the user's data field.

For an example, see http://gp.m29.com/members/dean_bellefleur (correct data via node template/node_load, listed with role=Consultant), and his comment on http://gp.m29.com/discuss/optimization/paper_or_plastic#comment-62, with data taken from user_load, where his role comes back as "Retailer".