Kansas City, MO – A freshman lawmaker from southwest Missouri has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 20 counts, accused of selling fake stem-cell treatments and illegally prescribing narcotics from her medical clinics.
Tricia Derges, 63, was elected to the Missouri House in November as a Republican representing Christian County. She is licensed as a physician assistant in Missouri, and operates the Ozark Valley Medical clinics in the Springfield region.
Tim Garrison, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, revealed the charges against Derges on Monday. In a news release statement, Garrison said: “This defendant abused her privileged position to enrich herself through deception. The indictment alleges she lied to her patients and she lied to federal agents. As an elected official and a health care provider, she deserves to be held to a high standard.”
As reported by the Missouri Independent, Derges is accused of buying amniotic fluid and then selling it to patients under the guise that it was a stem-cell treatment that could work against diseases like covid-19. Federal prosecutors say the substance contained no stem cells. She bought the amniotic fluid for $250 per milliliter and sold it as a treatment for $950 to $1,450 per milliliter, according to Garrison.
The indictments allege that eight of her patients paid out thousands for the so-called treatment, totaling nearly $192,000.
Ten other charges against Derges include writing illegal prescriptions for oxycodone and adderall for patients in her clinics that she did not examine herself.
Derges is also facing counts of lying to investigators during their investigation into the alleged scheme.