Va. seller of a 'cure' for cancer is arrested
Va. man claimed he had cure for cancer, charged $1,200 per bottle. Cops say its bogus, bust him.
By Tom Jackman and T. Rees Shapiro July 26
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Though a low-slung medical office building in Manassas City, Va., may seem like an unlikely place to find a cure for cancer, thats where Peter B. Adeniji was offering his miracles, police say. For only $1,200 a bottle, Adenijis special herbal mixture would do what science and proven medications could not, authorities say he promised numerous patients.
The promises ended Monday when police from a Prince William County drug task force raided Adenijis office and his home in Bristow, seizing medicines, ingredients for Adenijis mixtures and $17,000 cash, authorities said. Adeniji was charged with five felony counts of fraud, seven counts of operating a medical practice without a license, four counts of dispensing drugs without a license and one count of money laundering. He was being held Tuesday in the Prince William jail without bond.
Adeniji has previously been charged and convicted for the same actions elsewhere in Virginia, and two of the cancer patients who obtained treatments from Adeniji later died, the prosecutor said Tuesday. Authorities considered filing a murder charge against Adeniji in one of the cases, Lynchburg Commonwealths Attorney Michael Doucette said, but decided they could not prove proximate cause between the treatment and her death. Medical experts had concluded the woman likely would have died no matter the treatment she received, he said.
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... He was indicted for felony fraud and unlicensed practice of medicine and pleaded guilty in June 2008. Adeniji was sentenced to five years in prison, but served only 3 1/2 months in jail, under a plea agreement in which he paid $6,000 restitution. .... In 2014, Adeniji applied for and received a restoration of rights from Gov. Terry McAuliffes office, state records show. The restoration is not a pardon, but enabled Adeniji to vote and apply for the ability to own a gun again. More recently, Adeniji published a book entitled Observing and Diagnosing America, which a press release described as a gripping and potent work that examines modern society and the negative effects of bigotry towards immigrants.