Couple lied about cancer-detecting machine, then sold fake cure, feds say
A third person has been charged after authorities say they lied to patients about being able to detect and cure cancer.
Mary Blakley and Fred Blakley were each charged in January with several counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. In a superseding indictment filed June 5, Janmarie Lanzo was charged with conspiracy to violate the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and defraud the Food and Drug Administration, according to court records and a June 17 news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
McClatchy News reached out to attorneys for Mary Blakley, Fred Blakley and Janmarie Lanzo but did not immediately hear back.
Mary Blakley and Fred Blakley are accused of running a medical clinic business where they charged patients across the U.S. for 'full body scans,' according to prosecutors.
Lanzo was a business associate who worked at the clinics and sold products to patients, officials said.
Mary Blakley and Fred Blakley typically charged patients $300 for a scan by an ultrasound machine, officials said.
They told the patients that Mary Blakley invented a 'smart chip technology' that when added to the ultrasound machine, could detect 'a wide variety of human diseases and medical conditions, including cancers,' prosecutors said.
The couple and their employees told patients that this technology could 'treat and cure a wide range of human diseases, illnesses and conditions, including by: 'driving' a substance known as Aetheion into the body to kill cancer,' the indictment said.
'Based on the results of these 'full body scans,' the defendants falsely and fraudulently prescribed to their human clients various supplements, creams, and veterinary products,' officials said.
The three sold Aetheion, a cosmetic cream, to patients, according to the release. They also sold them fenbendazole, a veterinary antiparasitic, and told them it could treat cancer, officials said.
Fenbendazole is not approved for human use by the FDA, court records said. It is typically used to treat worms in animals.
The three also prescribed ProArgi9+ and told patients it was used to treat multiple sclerosis and diabetes, court records said. ProArgi9+ is not approved by the FDA to treat diseases and is used as a dietary supplement.
Mary Blakley carried out the scheme by lying about having a Ph.D. in radiation nuclear physics, having dual U.S./Swedish citizenship and working as a cancer specialist and part of a research team that developed fenbendazole, according to court records.
If convicted, Mary Blakley and Fred Blakley face 165 years in prison and Lanzo faces five years in prison.
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