A Missouri lawmaker sold a 'potential cure' for coronavirus. It was a fake stem cell treatment, feds

[UpInArms]

As she planned a run for the Missouri House last April, Patricia Ashton Derges went on local TV to trumpet a stem cell treatment offered at three clinics she owns as a “potential cure” for the coronavirus.

But when federal officials began investigating the claim, they found Derges was making “misleading statements” about the treatment, prosecutors said — it didn’t actually include any stem cells.

Derges, a 63-year-old Republican who was elected to the state House in November, now faces 20 criminal charges, including wire fraud and distribution by means of the Internet without a valid prescription, a federal grand jury indictment unsealed on Tuesday revealed.

“This defendant abused her privileged position to enrich herself through deception,” said U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison in a statement on Monday. “As an elected official and a health care provider, she deserves to be held to a high standard.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/03/missouri-lawmaker-stemcell-covid-indicted/

... putting the CON in CONservative ...

[CurtEastPoint]

1. I can't tell you what I think she deserves because I'll get alerted.

Derges, an assistant physician who got her medical degree from Caribbean Medical University of Curacao in May 2014, allegedly gave the treatments herself.

The clinic obtained amniotic fluid through the University of Utah for about $244.00 per ml. Derges then charged her patients $950 to $1,450 per ml of amniotic fluid, the indictment said, with some paying as much as $6,500 for what they thought were treatments with stem cells.

Patients paid Derges approximately $191,815 for amniotic fluid that did not contain stem cells, the indictment claims.