Doctor's ALS fraud case goes to jurors
By TOM NAMAKO Staff Writer, (856) 794-5115
Published: Thursday, December 7, 2006


CAMDEN — A jury will now decide whether a Galloway Township physician is guilty of swindling thousands of dollars from patients with Lou Gehrig's disease or simply mismanaged their funds while searching for a cure.
Closing arguments were made Wednesday in the trial of recognized Lyme disease expert Charlene DeMarco and her aide, Elizabeth Lerner. Both are facing an 11-count indictment charging conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Attorneys for both sides said Lerner, after being arrested and charged, said to DeMarco, “They can't get us for mail fraud, I sent the money back,” referring to a small payment reimbursement to one of their patients.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Geni Cowles said that remark was a confession showing there was intent to defraud the patients. Defense attorneys said that Lerner, shocked at the arrest, was trying to say that some money was returned in good faith.

During the closing arguments, Cowles recounted what she said was DeMarco's plan to convince four patients to pay for an ALS treatment. ALS — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease — slowly paralyzes the body.




The proposed treatment included injecting stem cells into a patient's brain, a procedure that DeMarco did not have the skill or equipment to pull off and that was not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, Cowles said.
Cowles made a detailed presentation with charts and graphs to show how DeMarco preyed on four vulnerable rural Louisiana families whose loved ones had ALS.

One of those patients, Barbara Parker, held a massive fundraiser in her rural Louisiana hometown to help raise money for her husband's treatment, which DeMarco said cost more than $30,000, Cowles said.

“They provided false hope to get funds,” Cowles said. “These families scrimped and saved, went to their communities for money, and the defendants took that money and spent it on themselves while the families hoped in vain for a cure.”

Cowles said that DeMarco and Lerner used more than $75,000 on cash ATM withdraws, a weekend at a local winery, and on a propane barbecue grill from Lowe's.

DeMarco came to know the ALS patients through word-of-mouth referrals.

On Wednesday, DeMarco and Lerner sat nearly motionless in the courtroom, watching the arguments as intently as the 20 people in the U.S. District Court gallery. During breaks, DeMarco would lean over the bar and talk to supportive friends and patients, who sat nodding their heads or holding their mouths as Cowles laid out what she said was the physician's elaborate scheme.

Defense attorney Jack McMahon's closing argument initially startled many of the jurors. Unlike Cowles, he stalked the courtroom floor and would come within inches of the government's table to challenge the allegations that his locally beloved — yet disorganized — client would do anything to harm her patients.

McMahon referred to DeMarco's first ALS patient, Matt Sciacca — who died before the procedure could begin and is not part of the indictment — to show that money was irrelevant to his client.

“She treated him and fought the federal government and FDA for him free of charge for six months without getting paid,” McMahon said. “How do you reconcile that with the idea she's out for money?”

While talking to the Parkers about the treatment, McMahon said DeMarco continued to seek FDA approval for her plan. He said she made all her patients aware that the stem-cell injections were not federally approved, had never been tried on humans before and could be dangerous.

“This is not the sharpest business woman and she's not an organized person,” McMahon said. “She didn't care about money.”

The decision to buy a grill with the patient's money was foolish, McMahon said. But Lerner's attorney, Paul Duca, said that was just “sloppy bookkeeping on both defendants' part.”

Before the closing arguments, the defense called 10 character witnesses to the stand for brief, 5-minute testimonies. They praised DeMarco as an excellent Lyme disease doctor while they were her patients.

The witnesses included Jeanne Moos, a correspondent for CNN; a Pennsylvania cabinet maker; and a former dean at Salem Community College.

“This is not about medicine, it's about money,” Cowles said later, adding, “The defendant may have been a good Lyme doctor, but that's irrelevant for the four families who were defrauded.”

To e-mail Tom Namako at The Press:

TNamako@pressofac.com
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/n...-6857231c.html

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Doctor convicted of defrauding Lou Gehrig's disease patients
The Associated Press
Published: Friday, December 8, 2006
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey doctor and her assistant were found guilty Friday of taking thousands of dollars from patients by promising to cure them of Lou Gehrig's disease with a stem-cell therapy they did not, and could not, deliver.
A federal jury found Charlene DeMarco and her aide, Elizabeth Lerner, both of Egg Harbor City, guilty on all 11 counts with which they were charged, including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

During closing arguments of their trial Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Geni Cowles told jurors that the pair took advantage of people from rural Louisiana who believed the doctor - a Lyme disease expert - could cure their Lou Gehrig's disease-stricken loved ones.

"They provided false hope to get funds," Cowles said. "These families scrimped and saved, went to their communities for money, and the defendants took that money and spent it on themselves while the families hoped in vain for a cure."

One woman, Barbara Parker, held a fundraiser in Louisiana asking friends and neighbors to contribute to the treatment for her husband, which she said DeMarco told her would cost more than $30,000.




The four patients sent the doctor and her assistant a total of more than $75,000, the jury found.
Cowles said they used the money during a weekend at a winery, and on a propane barbecue grill, among other purchases.

The treatment the patients were promised was beyond what DeMarco could do - and was not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, Cowles said.

During DeMarco and Lerner's trial in U.S. District Court in Camden, several defense character witnesses talked about how the doctor treated them expertly when they had Lyme disease.

Lou Gehrig's disease, formally known as 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.

N.J. doctor, her aide convicted of stem-cell fraudA New Jersey doctor and her assistant were found guilty yesterday of taking thousands of dollars from patients by promising to cure them of Lou Gehrig's disease with a stem-cell therapy they did not, and could not, deliver. A federal jury in Camden found Charlene DeMarco and her aide, Elizabeth Lerner, both of Egg Harbor, guilty on all 11 counts, including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

During closing arguments of their trial Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Geni Cowles told jurors that the pair took advantage of people from rural Louisiana who believed the doctor, a Lyme disease expert, could cure their Lou Gehrig's disease-stricken loved ones. "They provided false hope to get funds," Cowles said. "These families scrimped and saved, went to their communities for money, and the defendants took that money and spent it on themselves."

The four patients sent the doctor and her assistant more than $75,000, the jury found. Cowles said they used the money during a weekend at a winery, and on a propane barbecue grill, among other purchases. Lou Gehrig's disease, formally known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a degenerative disease of the nervous system that causes muscle weakness and eventual paralysis. There is no known cure. - AP