Prosecutors in the Western District of Missouri allege that Patricia “Tricia” Ashton Derges, who operates three “Ozark Valley Medical Clinic” sites, sold what she falsely advertised as a stem cell treatment. Court documents cite one case on April 11, 2020, when Derges wrote a Facebook post about her clinic’s treatment as a “great treatment (which) stands to provide a potential cure for Covid-19 patients that is safe and natural. is. ”
Derges, a Republican, pleaded not guilty, according to her attorney, Stacey Bilyeu, who insisted that she is “held innocent until proven guilty”.
The University of Utah said its product has clear directions for use and was “disappointed to learn that patients were allegedly misled.” They pledged to cooperate with the authorities in the investigation, saying they are “currently reviewing our processes to determine if we can do more to prevent similar events in the future.”
Lawyer says Derges will continue to work
Derges is facing eight allegations of wire fraud arising from the sale of alleged stem cell treatments and two allegations of lying to researchers about those treatments. In addition, prosecutors charged Derges with 10 counts of prescribing medication to patients she did not directly treat. However, these prescriptions were not related to the fake stem cell treatments.
Bilyeu told CNN her client has “made her plea not to be guilty of every allegation the government has made against her.”
Bilyeu pointed out that “all that has happened in this case so far” is the return of a grand jury indictment that she noted is “unilateral proceeding”.
Derges “sold her company in her fifties to go to medical school in the Netherlands Antilles and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2014”, according to her biography on the website of the House of Representatives.
She is licensed as an assistant physician in the state issued in 2017, according to the Missouri Licensing Database.
In Missouri, medical school graduates can apply to become an assistant physician if they pass steps 1 and 2 of the U.S. medical licensing exam, the indictment says, even if they have not been admitted to a residency program. Federal authorities said in the indictment that Derges “received her medical degree from the Caribbean Medical University of Curacao in May 2014, but was not admitted to a postgraduate residency program.”
Bilyeu said Derges has no plans to step down from her jobs as the case is set in court.
“She’s still a doctor, she still has clinics, and she’s still a state representative,” Bilyeu said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story mentioned the wrong medical license for Patricia “Tricia” Ashton Derges. She is licensed as an assistant physician.