A federal grand jury returned a 13-count indictment against Maureen Long, 64, Tulsa, Okla.
The indictment alleges Long’s Internet-based business, Camelot Cancer Care, Inc., preyed on people who were desperately seeking cures for cancer by selling them infusions of drugs that were misbranded and not approved for treating cancer.
Long, who was not a physician, a nurse or any other kind of licensed medical professional, used her Web site and email to create the false impression she was running a legitimate medical clinic. She sold clients drugs that the Food and Drug Administration – she called it the “Federal Death Administration” -- had not approved for treating cancer.
Eleven Kansas residents paid more than $128,000 total for Long’s treatments. Residents of Kansas towns including Lenexa, Spring Hill, Hartford, Prairie Village, Hesston, Ottawa and Mt. Hope were among the victims.
They had been diagnosed with illnesses including ovarian cancer, esophageal cancer, rectal and lymph cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, cervical cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, brain tumor and breast cancer.
The indictment also alleges Long:
- Falsely claimed that Camelot had a 60 percent success rate resulting in either remission of cancer or stopping a tumor’s growth.
- Marketed something she called the “DMSO Protocol,” which was supposed to consist of DMSO, Vitamin C and Vitamin B-17 (also known as Amygdalin or Laetrile). A forensic chemical analysis of some of the products, however, found neither DMSO nor Laetrile.
- Distributed marketing materials claiming the infusion she sold would cut through malignancy “like a scythe through a wheat field.”
- Charged $12,000 or more for a first round of treatment and $3,600 for each subsequent round.
- Instructed clients to forego traditional treatments of radiation and chemotherapy.
