A member of the Missouri State House of Representatives has been charged in a 20-count indictments with providing fake medical treatments at a clinic she ran in Springfield, NBC News reports.
Republican Patricia Ashton Derges faces charges that include claiming that she was inoculating patients with a coronavirus “cure” although she had been issued no vaccine.
An assistant physician with a medical degree from Caribbean Medical University of Curacao, Derges, 63, runs the Ozark Valley Medical Center, claimed that her treatments were stem cell-based regimens that could cure everything from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to erectile dysfunction.
On a local television show, Derges claimed that her clinic had discovered a “natural treatment” that could cure coronavirus, a claim that led people to contact authorities, who started an investigation. She obtained amniotic fluid, which in fact did not contain stem cells, from the University of Utah for $244 per milliliter and then resold it to patients at $950 to $1,450 per milliliter. One patient paid $6,500 for a one ml injection, thinking they were getting stem cells.
“Derges vowed to do no harm as a health care professional and was elected to serve the people, not deceive them,” said Special Agent in Charge Timothy Langan, of the FBI’s Kansas City office. “She used her position for personal gain and damaged the public’s trust.”