A Missouri lawmaker is charged with using a fake stem cell treatment to treat Covid-19 and other illnesses.
Patricia Ashton Derges, a Missouri state representative, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges involving a fraudulent stem cell therapy that treated patients with a variety of illnesses, including Covid-19, federal prosecutors said.
Patricia Ashton Derges, a Missouri state representative, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges involving a fraudulent stem cell therapy that treated patients with a variety of illnesses, including Covid-19, federal prosecutors said.Credit…Larry French/Getty Images for The Jefferson Awards Foundation
A Missouri state representative was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges involving a fraudulent stem cell therapy that treated patients with a variety of illnesses, including Covid-19, federal prosecutors said.
Patricia Ashton Derges, 63, of Nixa, Mo., was charged with 20 counts of wire fraud, distributing controlled substances over the internet without a prescription and making false statements to federal agents, according to court records that were unsealed on Monday.
Ms. Derges, who is a licensed assistant physician and operates three clinics in Missouri, bought amniotic fluid from the University of Utah. She marketed the amniotic fluid as a stem cell treatment called “Regenerative Biologics,” even after the university told her that it “did not contain any cells, including stem cells,” prosecutors said.
She administered the amniotic fluid to treat patients with tissue damage, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Lyme disease, erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence, among other health issues, and she also marketed the regimen as a cure for Covid-19, according to the indictment.
“This amazing treatment stands to provide a potential cure for Covid-19 patients that is safe and natural,” she wrote on Facebook in April, according to prosecutors.
Dozens of clinical trials of stem cells treatments for Covid are underway, but it is unclear if they are effective. The National Institutes of Health recommends against the use of mesenchymal stem cells — the type of stem that Ms. Derges claimed were in the amniotic fluid — for Covid-19, except in a clinical trial. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also issued warnings that unproven stem cell treatments can potentially harm patients.
Ms. Derges is not the first health professional who has been charged with marketing or providing unproven Covid treatments or cures. In April, a doctor in Southern California was charged with selling Covid treatments online that he billed as a “100 percent” cure. The regimen, which was marketed as a “concierge medicine experience” and cost nearly $4,000, included the medications hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin and “anti-anxiety treatments to help you avoid panic, if needed, and help you sleep,” prosecutors said.
The F.D.A. and the Federal Trade Commission have sent warning letters to at least 140 companies selling teas, essential oils, tinctures and other products that the companies claimed would prevent people from getting Covid-19 or were a cure for it. Several companies that sold fraudulent test kits also were warned to stop.
Other coronavirus-related fraud included reports of fake drive-through testing sites, where impostors swabbed people’s cheeks in exchange for cash. The Federal Trade Commission has recently cautioned the public about vaccine fraud, telling consumers to look to local and state governments for guidance.
“Don’t pay to sign up for the #COVID19 vaccine,” the commission tweeted on Tuesday. “Only scammers will tell you to pay to reserve a spot in line.”
The New York Times