Doctor found guilty in ALS fraud case
December 11 2006 | ALS News
Press of Atlantic City
By SHAWN HARDIE Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, December 9, 2006
A jury took less than seven hours of deliberation to convict a Galloway Township doctor accused of bilking thousands of dollars from patients who believed she had a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease.
Charlene DeMarco and her assistant, Elizabeth Lerner, were convicted on 11 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering in federal court Friday. Prosecutors argued that DeMarco convinced four families from rural Louisiana that she could cure the disease officially known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS and charged them as much as $35,000 each for the treatment.
We are gratified by today's verdict, U.S Attorney Christopher J. Christie said. The conduct of which these defendants were convicted is contemptible and represents a shocking example of greed and a total disregard for historic principles of humane medical treatment.
During the 10-day trial, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eugenia A.P. Cowles and R. Stephen Stigall argued that from October 2002 until November 2004, DeMarco and Lerner worked to defraud ALS patients and their families. Prosecutors presented witnesses, statements and phone conversations in which DeMarco allegedly told the patients that her stem-cell research was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and that for a fee of as much as $35,000, she could cure the patient.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said DeMarco and Lerner received more than $40,000 in the scheme. They spent the money, prosecutors said, on a weekend at Renault Winery in Galloway Township and to purchase a propane barbecue grill.
