Former California Resident Sentenced to 30 Months in Federal Custody for Sale of Unapproved “Energy Wave” (Rife) Medical Devices

Former California resident David Perez was sentenced in federal court on April 4, 2016 to 30 months in custody for conspiracy to commit mail fraud (18 U.S.C. Section 371) selling unapproved “Energy Wave” medical devices (non FDA approved) over the Internet and mailing them to customers throughout the United States. These are known as "Rife" machines.

According to admissions in his plea agreement, Mr. Perez marketed the “Energy Wave” device using the website www.myenergywave.com[external link].

Rife machines have been around for years and some alternative practitioners use them. I had an unlicensed practice of medicine criminal case in which a Rife machine figured prominently. While I obtained not guilty verdicts on the multiple counts, my client was not the one who offered the Rife treatment. You can find many Rife machines for sale to this date. This particular "Energy Wave" device allegedly consists of a micro-current frequency generator with a digital readout, two stainless steel cylinders, two personal application plates with connectors and lead wire for the cylinders and plates.  

What caused Mr. Perez legal trouble was that allegedly when he sold them to users, his company also provided users with an operating manual and a list of Auto Codes that set forth over 450 digital settings for the device, directed to treat specific conditions from abdominal pain, AIDS and diabetes to stroke, ulcer and worms.  The Auto Codes and Manuel advised users to connect the cylinders or plates to the machine, and touch them to the body for a recommended run time to treat each condition. 

David Perez admitted selling each device for approximately $1,200-$1,500, and receiving gross proceeds of approximately $271,000.  He also acknowledged in his plea agreement that he intended to defraud and mislead the Food and Drug Administration by attempting to evade the agency’s oversight of medical claims made regarding the Energy Wave device by maintaining a separate website (rifecodes.com) to which he referred customers who needed to obtain the auto codes that allegedly were used to treat the various medical conditions.  Mr. Perez admitted that he knew or should have known a number of his customers were vulnerable because they had purchased the device in an attempt to cure cancer, and that they were marketing the device without the proper FDA approvals.

Given the loss amount and lack of prior criminal history, the 30 months is a high sentence and those selling or marketing non-FDA approved devices that are suggested to be used to cure any diseases (especially cancer) need to be mindful of the FDA's aggressive stance on such marketing and sales.

Posted by Tracy Green, Esq.

Unusual Case Of Man Posing As Fertility Doctor In Los Angeles Is Charged With Unlicensed Practice Of Medicine, Identity Theft And Other Charges

In an unusual practicing medicine without a license case, Jeffrey Lynn Graybill was charged by Information in Los Angeles County Superior Court with stealing the identity of a real doctor, posing as a fertility doctor in Marina del Rey and performing medical exams on college-age men who believed their sperm donations were being used for medical research.

Mr. Graybill was arraigned on October 1, 2009 at the Airport Branch where he plead not guilty to two counts of practicing medicine without a license, two counts of false personation, two counts of identity theft, two counts of sexual battery by fraud, and three counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object. A judge set bail at $549,000 bail and scheduled his next court date for October 16.

An Information is only an accusation is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to police, although Mr. Graybill had no training as a physician, he had taken courses as an emergency medical technician. Mr. Graybill allegedly posted advertisements on the Craigslist Internet site pretendinged to be a doctor for the West Los Angeles Fertility Clinic, conducting "stem cell and other research." He offered $400 to $500 for an initial semen donation, and up to $4,000 if a donor's sample was selected for his study.

Some men responded through phone calls or e-mails. He then allegedly scheduled meetings with them at his apartments in Marina del Rey and Santa Monica. Then Mr. Graybill allegedly performed physical examinations on the men, who supplied semen samples. Two of the men reported what happened, triggering the investigation.

There is an article in the Los Angeles Times regarding this case:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-westside-assault3-2009oct03,0,4365839.story?track=rss

Posted by Tracy Green. Any questions or comments should be directed to: tgreen@greenassoc.com. Tracy Green is a principal at Green and Associates in Los Angeles, California. They focus their practice on the representation of professionals, individuals and businesses in civil, business, administrative and criminal proceedings. They have developed an expertise in health care over the past 20 years, and have significant experience in unlicensed practice of medicine cases. The firm website is http://www.greenassoc.com/

Self-Proclaimed "Natural Doctor" Charged With Treating Cancer Patients Without A License And Unauthorized Practice Of Medicine In Orange County

A recent arrest for the unauthorized practice of medicine shows the role that a newspaper article and a website can have on the government's decision to prosecute.

California law allows non-licensed persons to offer certain types of alternative treatments and not be accused of the unauthorized practice of medicine if the law is followed as set forth in California Business & Profession Code Sections 2053.5 and 2053.6. However, unlicensed persons using the term "doctor" and offering to "cure" certain diseases with nutritional supplements subject themselves to exposure to local prosecutors, the FTC and the FDA.

On September 24, 2009, Daryn Wayne Peterson, 37, was charged in Orange County Superior Court with one felony count each of the unauthorized practice of medicine, operating a health care service plan (HMO) without a license, treating cancer without a license, offering an unapproved drug for cancer treatment, and one misdemeanor count of misrepresenting himself as a licensed medical practitioner.

The genesis of the case was a newspaper article. On June 10, 2009, the Orange County Register featured Mr. Peterson in a color-picture article on the front page on the Life/Wellness section of the newspaper titled "A rejection of Western medicine with subheading, Clients swear by natural treatments, but many others doubtful." An online version of the article was headlined “‘Natural doctor’ says he can cure cancer, AIDS.”

The Register article discussed how Mr. Peterson charged his clients for listening to his approach to wellness, and how he encouraged them to drop their health insurance plans in favor of his “natural health insurance” plans, which the article said did not cover hospitalization or lab tests but did give patients a discount on vitamins and other supplements that he sold. The Register article also quoted a UC Irvine Medical Center oncologist who disputed Mr. Peterson’s assertion that cancer patients who refuse chemotherapy live longer than those who are in remission.

The day the article ran, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) began an investigation into the matter. In a statement, the OCDA said it was “alarmed by the potential health risks to the community and the recklessness of the article” and launched an investigation into Mr. Peterson’s practice. The OCDA's office also alleged that some of the patients featured in the Register article who spoke favorably of Mr. Peterson’s treatments were either friends or his blood relatives.

In the criminal caes, Mr. Peterson is accused of operating Natural Health Care Organization (http://www.naturalhealthcoverage.com/), a website offering “Natural Health Insurance” and claiming to provide pre-paid “subscribers” with unlimited access by email, telephone or in person to their “own Natural Doctor,” who has “success in stopping disease without drugs and surgery.” In the complaint, it is alleged that none of the purported “doctors” listed on the website are licensed to practice medicine in California. Mr. Peterson is accused of posting “testimonials” on the website, claiming to be from “patients,” asserting that Natural Health Care Organization “doctors” have cured diseases including leukemia, diabetes, crohn’s disease, prostate cancer, migraines, and restless leg syndrome.

In the course of the investigation, an undercover OCDA Investigator signed up on Peterson’s website as a potential “patient.” Mr. Peterson is accused of communicating with the “patient” online, and later meeting the “patient” at his apartment in Mira Loma, CA. After hearing that the “patient” had been diagnosed with lymphoma and was scared of the chemotherapy recommended by his doctor, Mr. Peterson is accused of telling the “patient” that he treats many cancer patients, that the chemotherapy would kill him faster than the cancer, and boasted an 88 percent success rate in treating all types of cancer, including Lymphoma. Mr. Peterson is also accused of telling the “patient” that he could “expect almost complete reversal” within one year of taking his “all-natural” vitamins and natural supplements on a daily basis. He is accused of performing a medical examination of the “patient,” including listening to his heart while asking him to breathe and looking in his eyes.

The OCDA's office also says Mr. Peterson of ran a website, www.naturalhealthcoverage.com, in which the “your doctors” section features Daryn Peterson and says he has a “Ph.D., HMD,” with a specialty of “internal medicine, natural medicine, toxicology, immunology and latrogenic diseases.” A catchphrase was listed in the website: “No Disease is Incurable.” The website was still up at the time of the arrest and did not appear to be compliant with the California Business & Profession Code.

Mr. Peterson is accused of offering patients an “insurance” plan or an HMO not licensed by the California Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance, as required by law. California law prohibits unauthorized and unlicensed businesses from offering pre-paid health services to protect consumers and patients from being defrauded. The law protects consumers from not receiving health care for which treatments were paid in advance.

One of the issues in the case is that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the California Department of Health Care Services have not approved any of the supplements recommended by Mr. Peterson for the "treatment of cancer." Doctors are authorized by law to represent that they have an effective treatment for cancer only if the drug has been approved by the FDA. A medical “drug” is defined as anything approved by the FDA for treatment of a specific disease.

Attorney Comments: First, be aware that websites offer government regulators and prosecutors the opportunity to sit at their desks and investigate without ever leaving their offices. The websites offer detailed information which can help make an investigative case. This includes the FTC, FDA, the Medical Board and other regulatory agencies.

Second, there are legal ways in which alternative health care providers who are unlicensed can legally provide services to clients. However, they need to be compliant with the law and especially careful with written brochures and internet websites.

Third, criminal prosecution can devastate one's career and although the potential jail sentences are not lengthy, it can result in the closing of one's office. Practitioners who are alternative need to be compliant with rules and regulations even when it is apparent that their clients or patients understand they are not medical doctors and are not promising "cures" or "treatments" for diseases but are instead focused on preventative medicine and enhancing health.

Any questions or comments should be directed to: tgreen@greenassoc.com. Tracy Green is a principal at Green and Associates. They focus their practice on the representation of professionals, including alternative health care professionals. Ms. Green was on the Board of Directors of the California Naturopathic Doctors Association. Their website is: http://www.greenassoc.com/

Woman Pleads Guilty To Unauthorized Practice Of Medicine For Acting As Midwife Without Certification During Home Delivery Of Stillborn Baby

On August 29, 2009, Megan Marie Roy, 34, pleaded guilty to one felony count of the unauthorized practice of medicine in Orange County Superior Court. Ms. Roy had been charged by the Orange County District Attorney's Office with this charge based on the allegation that she had acted as a midwife without proper certification during the home delivery of a baby girl in which the baby was stillborn.

This is the type of charge that does not usually get brought to the authorities' attention unless there are some bad facts. In this case, the facts are tragic and sad for all. The fact that the case was not charged more harshly may indicate that there was no evidence that the child would have been born healthy if a licensed provider had been present at the home birth.

The facts relating to the case are as follows. Pregnant victim Jane Doe wanted to deliver her baby at her Garden Grove home and hired another midwife for the delivery. Prior to the birth of the baby, the midwife moved out of state and introduced Mr. Roy to Jane Doe as a substitute. Ms. Roy told the victim that she was not certified to be a midwife.

On March 24, 2008, Ms. Roy acted as a midwife without medical certification for Jane Doe’s delivery. Ms. Roy did not have a doctor or any other qualified medical personnel present at the victim’s home during the delivery. It was alleged that Ms. Roy acted as the primary medical care provider to Jane Doe without the necessary skills, licensing or knowledge to deliver the baby, or handle medical complications.

After several hours in labor and obvious physical signs of distress, the baby’s father called 9-1-1. Jane Doe was transported to the hospital, where her baby girl was later delivered stillborn.

Ms. Roy was sentenced to three years of formal probation, 400 hours of community service at a facility caring for sick children, donate $2,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and ordered to pay restitution to the victim.

Any questions or comments should be directed to: tgreen@greenassoc.com. She can also be reached at 213-233-2260.

Tracy Green is a principal at Green and Associates. They focus their practice on the representation of professionals, particularly health care professionals including individual physicians, corporate providers and group practices. They have also handled numerous unauthorized practice of medicine cases.
Their website is: http://www.greenassoc.com/