Published: 2009-05-13 20:00:36
Author: Associated Press | April 9, 2009
A man who called himself a naturopathic doctor and told patients his supplements could cure cancer was charged Thursday with practicing medicine without a license and giving patients unapproved drugs, prosecutors said.
Kurt Donsbach, 73, who treated Coretta Scott King before she died of ovarian cancer in 2006, was charged with 11 felony counts. He was arrested during his weekly Internet radio broadcast and was held on $1.5 million bail.
"The defendant preyed on vulnerable patients who were looking for medical help," District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said in a statement. "Under the guise of providing natural and safe supplements, he sold victims potentially dangerous drugs."
Donsbach claimed to be a chiropractor and naturopathic doctor on his Web site, LetsTalkHealth.com, where he sells alternative remedies for many conditions, from cancer and autoimmune disorders to joint pain and stress.
A message left at the number listed on the Web site was not returned Thursday evening.
Prosecutors said Donsbach is not licensed as a physician, chiropractor or naturopathic doctor in California.
His clinic in Rosarito, Mexico, the Santa Monica Health Institute where King was treated, was shut down by the government after her death because it was providing unproven treatments and unauthorized surgeries, according to state officials. An inspection of the clinic found untrained employees not following procedures for treating terminally ill patients and unsanitary conditions.