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Doctor Sentenced to 14 Years for Making Money from False Herbal Cure for Cancer

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Robert Timilin sentenced a Los Angeles doctor to 14 years in federal prison. She was accused of making more than $1 million by promising false herbal cures to late term cancer patients. The federal court also ordered Dr. Christine Daniel to forfeit an amount of $1,277,083. She was found guilty on 11 counts including witness tampering, wire fraud, and tax evasion.

According to the findings, she offered a $100,000 a month program which she claimed could cure cancer if patients were on a six-month program. At least in one case, a patient of highly curable form of cancer died because she trusted Dr. Daniel’s program to avoid chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

During trial, experts who analyzed Dr. Daniel’s “magic potion” found it containing things like sunscreen preservative and food flavorings among other stuff.

In a statement following the sentence, U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said, “The scope of Daniel’s fraud was breathtaking … (she) robbed victims of more than money – she also stole their hopes and dreams for a cure.”

Birotte termed Dr. Daniel’s sentence as “richly-deserved.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns observed in court documents, “It is unlikely that our federal criminal justice system will see the like of defendant Christine Daniel again.” Johns pointed out to the court that Dr. Daniels, “repeatedly demonstrated a merciless and callous indifference to the suffering of her patients and their family members.”

She even went to the extent of throwing a party upon the declared cure of one of her patients, when in reality the patient was already in terminal stage and died shortly after the party.

Federal prosecutors stressed that Dr. Daniel made money out of people who were terminally ill and were desperately reaching out for any hope whatsoever. According to court documents, between 2001 and 2004, she made at least $1 million from dozens of families who were at their wit’s end and essentially praying for miracles. Many patients also had to endure additional pain due to putting their trust in her magic potion.

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