(Photo : Getty Images: Larry French / Stringer)
A Missouri state representative and assistant physician are allegedly running a fraud scheme of fake stem cell use in administering treatments including covid-19 were charged in a 20-count indictment.
Prosecutors in Missouri's Western District say that Patricia "Tricia" Ashton Derges referred to her falsely marketed fake stem cell therapy as an"amazing treatment that stands to provide a potential cure to Covid-19 patients that is safe and natural. Patricia runs three "Ozark Valley Medical Clinic" sites.
As stated on the grand jury indictment unsealed Monday, Patricia Ashton Derges, 63, reportedly offered so-called "regenerative" care to clients who came to the Ozark Valley Medical Clinic searching for help for different diseases.
The clinic provided amniotic fluid to its patients, which appeared to have fake stem cells but was, in reality, acellular, without stem cells.
After Derges made false statements in April on a Springfield TV station, the FBI initiated an investigation after stating that Covid-19 could be handled by stem cells.
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According to officials, the drug called "amniotic fluid allograft" offered to patients is a drug that the University of Utah told investigators is sold to her for around $244 for 1 milliliter. Authorities say Derges knew that no cells, including stem cells, contained the substance. In total, for the amniotic fluid, Derges' patients paid her approximately $191,815.00, the documents state. According to court records, she charged her patients $950 to $1,450 per milliliter.
The University clarifies that the product has clear usage instructions written and was "disappointed to learn patients were allegedly misled." The University will fully cooperate with authorities regarding the investigation and said they are at the moment thinking of ways on how to prevent the same things from happening again.
Derges, on the other hand, has pleaded not guilty, as responded by her attorney, Stacey Bilyeu, who said her client is "presumed innocent until proven guilty."
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Despite charges, Derges can still work
Derges faces eight charges of wire fraud resulting from the selling of supposed stem cell treatments and two charges of lying about those treatments to investigators. Additionally, prosecutors charged Derges with ten counts of administering drugs to patients she was not directly managing. However, these prescriptions were not linked to the bogus treatments of stem cells.
Derges was elected to the Missouri State House of Representatives in November. According to the state's election results page, she ran unopposed to represent the 140th district. In 2017, she won a Jefferson Awards Foundation grant for her work with the local Ozark network.
According to Missouri's licensing database, she has a medical assistant's license in the state granted in 2017.
Missouri encourages medical school graduates to apply to become an assistant doctor if they have completed U.S. Phases 1 and 2. Medical Licensing Test, even though they were not admitted into a residency program, the prosecution claims. In the indictment, federal prosecutors state Derges "obtained her medical degree from the Caribbean Medical University of Curacao in May 2014 but was not accepted into a post-graduate residency program."
As the case plays out in court, Bilyeu said that Derges has no intention to step back from all of her work.
