Missouri state GOP lawmaker facing charges for selling fake COVID-19 'cure'

Source: The Hill | February 3, 2021 | Dominick Mastrangelo

 Prosecutors have hit a Republican state lawmaker in Missouri with more than a dozen charges after saying she administered what she claimed to be a cure for the coronavirus that turned out to be fake.

Patricia Ashton Derges, 63, faces 20 criminal charges, including wire fraud and distribution by means of the internet without a valid prescription for her promoting of a supposed stem cell treatment marketed through her clinics in southern Missouri, according to a federal indictment that was unsealed and reported by the Washington Post.

“This defendant abused her privileged position to enrich herself through deception,” U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison said in an announcement of the charges on Monday. “The indictment alleges she lied to her patients and she lied to federal agents. As an elected official and a health care provider, she deserves to be held to a high standard. This grand jury indictment exposes her deception and holds her accountable for her actions.”

Derges was elected to the Missouri statehouse in November.

Prosecutors said an investigation into the lawmaker began as a result of false or misleading statements she made in April 2020 to a local television station regarding her “potential use of stem cells to treat COVID-19.” 

The federal indictment charges Derges with eight counts of wire fraud related to five victims, the prosecutors said. The victims were among those who lost a total of an estimated $200,000 in the fraud scheme. Derges is not a physician but is licensed as an assistant physician.

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