A Missouri lawmaker sold a 'potential cure' for coronavirus. It was a fake stem cell treatment, feds [View all]

As she planned a run for the Missouri House last April, Patricia Ashton Derges went on local TV to trumpet a stem cell treatment offered at three clinics she owns as a “potential cure” for the coronavirus.

But when federal officials began investigating the claim, they found Derges was making “misleading statements” about the treatment, prosecutors said — it didn’t actually include any stem cells.

Derges, a 63-year-old Republican who was elected to the state House in November, now faces 20 criminal charges, including wire fraud and distribution by means of the Internet without a valid prescription, a federal grand jury indictment unsealed on Tuesday revealed.

“This defendant abused her privileged position to enrich herself through deception,” said U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison in a statement on Monday. “As an elected official and a health care provider, she deserves to be held to a high standard.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/03/missouri-lawmaker-stemcell-covid-indicted/

... putting the CON in CONservative ...