New Jersey woman sentenced for defrauding ALS patients
by Jeff May/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday December 19, 2007, 3:07 PM
An Egg Harbor City woman has been sentenced to 33 months in prison
for falsely claiming she could cure Lou Gehrig's disease through stem
cell therapy.
Elizabeth Lerner, 38, was found guilty of several counts of mail
fraud, wire fraud and money laundering for bilking two patients
afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and their
families of more than $40,000. Working with a former doctor of
osteopathy, Charlene DeMarco, Lerner claimed she could cure ALS using
stem cells, a treatment she falsely said had been approved by the
Food and Drug Administration.
DeMarco has initially sought approval in 2002 to inject stem cells
into one patient's brain, but the FDA never gave permission to begin
clinical trials of the proposed treatment, according to court
filings. The FDA began an investigation, then turned the results over
the U.S. Attorney's office in New Jersey. The case was tried in
federal court in Camden, and both women were convicted on 11 criminal
counts in Dec. 2006.
"The FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations aggressively pursues
those that provide false hope to patients by making unproven medical
claims to unsuspecting patients -- many with serious or life-
threatening conditions who are desperate for a medical cure," said
Terry Vermillion, director of the agency's investigative arm.
Besides her prison sentence, Lerner was ordered to pay $35,390 in
restitution and a $7,500 fine.
http://www.nj.
d_for.html
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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