A doctor in Fullerton was convicted in federal court on Tuesday in connection with the distribution of an unapproved cancer treatment.
Benedict Liao, 81, faced 26 felony charges including wire fraud, selling a misbranded drug, and selling an unapproved new drug. Liao reportedly charged cancer patients up to $2,000 per bottle of a product called Allesgen, which has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He sold the drug from his medical practice, with offices in Monterey Park and West Covina, over the course of six years.
The illegal drug sales generated roughly $1.6 million in revenues for Liao, prosecutors said.
Liao initially submitted two applications for Allesgen to the FDA in 2011 and 2012, with the aim of starting clinical trials for the drug. The FDA placed both applications on “full clinical hold” due to “deficiencies” therein, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In the interim, the FDA required Liao to place a label on Allesgen bottles identifying it as a new drug for limited, research use. The doctor was barred from distributing the drug in clinical trials, or generally to patients, and he was not allowed to sell it.
Instead, Liao called it a supplement and added a label warning patients it had not yet been evaluated by the FDA and was not intended to treat diseases.
Several patients who participated in a trial for the drug told the jury Liao did not disclose the fact that Allesgen was unapproved by the FDA. One said he would not have purchased the drug if he’d known it was unapproved.
Prosecutors said Allesgen could have unpredictable and serious side effects.
Liao was found guilty on all 26 felony charges. He will return to court in early 2022 for sentencing. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud and three years for each of the additional 19 counts.
Liao’s medical license is still current and active according to the California Department of Consumer Affairs. A spokesperson for the Medical Board of California told KNX 1070 that the licensing body will conduct its own investigation of the allegations. To strip Liao of his license, the board must prove that his conviction is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of a physician.
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