Minister found guilty of selling bogus cancer cure to Christians across the U.S.
Self-manufactured product
A doctor who’s also a Pentecostal minister faces prison time and $5.5 million in fines for marketing and selling a self-manufactured product made of sunscreen preservative and beef extract flavoring as a cancer cure to patients across the country, via ads on a religious TV network.
Christine Daniel, 57, of Los Angeles, who operated a Mission Hills clinic under names such as Sonrise Wellness Center, was convicted late Monday in Los Angeles federal court of 11 counts of mail and wire fraud, tax evasion and witness tampering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Daniel marketed and sold the bogus treatment that she and her employees claimed could cure many diseases and conditions, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and hepatitis, prosecutors said.
Daniel claimed the bogus cancer cure had a success rate of between 60 percent and 100 percent for Stage IV metastatic or terminal cancers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Evidence presented during trial also showed that Daniel used her status as a minister to create a bond of trust with members of the Evangelical Christian community, an affinity that provided her with a market to sell her bogus treatment.
Daniel promoted the product under a variety of names—including “C-Extract,” “the natural treatment” and “the herbal treatment”—through a program televised on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, according to court papers.
She and her employees falsely claimed that the product was made with herbs from around the world and was manufactured in a laboratory according to the needs of each patient, prosecutors said.
Depending on the purported level or strength of the herbal product, Daniel would charge her customers up to $4,270 for a one-week supply. She also offered a six-month treatment program for between $120,000 and $150,000.
Federal prosecutors presented evidence that Daniel’s “treatment” did not cure anyone of cancer, nor was it was made from herbs from around the world or blended for individual patients.
Chemical analysis determined that the product contained sunscreen preservative and beef extract flavoring, among other ingredients, none of which could have had any effect on cancer or other diseases, according to expert testimony.
During the trial, the jury heard testimony from 28 victim-patients, or close family members of victims who had died while taking Daniel’s product. The evidence showed that a significant percentage of Daniel’s patients died within three month to six months after they started taking the bogus cure.
Daniel and employees working at her direction induced about 55 victims to send nearly $1 million to Daniel’s Sonrise clinic, evidence showed.
Daniel is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Timlin on Dec. 5. She faces a potential maximum of 150 years in federal prison, and fines totaling $5.5 million, prosecutors said.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The National Institutes of Health awarded $81.3 million to UCLA and several partners for research into conditions that cause disability and early death in Los Angeles County.
Rates of premature death and disability related to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, AIDS, depression, violence and other preventable conditions in the county far exceed national averages, according to Dr. A. Eugene Washington, UCLA’s vice chancellor for health sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
PASADENA, Calif.—Children who are overweight or obese have a significantly higher prevalence of psoriasis, and teens with psoriasis, regardless of their body weight, have higher cholesterol levels, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the Journal of Pediatrics. The study findings suggest that higher heart disease risk for patients with psoriasis starts in childhood in the form of higher cholesterol levels.
The madness we now call “holidays” takes on a different meaning in times like these, when you have people without homes and homes without people.
Instead of society focusing on what it should be focused on—rectifying greed run amuck, or putting a stop to the gamesmanship of a dysfunctional Congress—we instead preoccupy ourselves with another holiday that becomes more absurd than the last.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A doctor who sexually assaulted eight female patients and an undercover detective while working at three medical facilities in Los Angeles and Glendale was sentenced today to 12 1/2 years in prison.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor rejected a defense motion for a new trial for Dr. Kevin Antario Brown, the son of former Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown.
November is diabetes awareness month, and World Diabetes Day is held on Nov. 14 each year.
The day aims to increase awareness about diabetes and its complications, and focuses on the need for more resources to fight the causes of diabetes and help fund research about improved treatment options, or even cures.
The International Diabetes Federation predicts that by 2030 there will be as many as 552 million diabetics in the world. Presently, nearly 8.3 percent of all Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes.
