Doctor sentenced to 57 months in prison in ALS patient fraud
11:36 PM EDT, September 5, 2007

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) _ A New Jersey doctor convicted of taking thousands of dollars from patients by falsely promising to cure them of Lou Gehrig's disease has been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison.

At sentencing Wednesday, Charlene C. DeMarco, 55, of Egg Harbor City, was also ordered to pay more than $32,000 in restitution to victims of the fraud and fined $7,500.

U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez ordered DeMarco to surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons by Oct. 19 to begin serving her sentence.



DeMarco and an assistant, Elizabeth Lerner, 38, of Egg Harbor City, were convicted in December on fraud and money laundering charges. Sentencing for Lerner was postponed because she recently retained a new lawyer.

Federal prosecutors said DeMarco, a doctor of osteopathy who specialized in treatment of Lyme disease, falsely claimed that she could treat patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease," using stem cell therapy.

According to trial testimony and evidence, DeMarco and Lerner obtained more than $40,000 from four patients and their families, all of whom reside in Louisiana.

DeMarco and Lerner were arrested on March 30, 2006, by agents of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a degenerative disease of the nervous system that causes muscle weakness and eventual paralysis. There is no known cure. Life expectancy for an ALS patient averages two to five years from time of diagnosis.

Baseball star Lou Gehrig first brought national and international attention to the disease in 1939 when he abruptly retired from baseball after being diagnosed with ALS.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...,3596625.story