[CO-CURE] NOTICE: Sued & under investigation: Cimoch's Center for Special Immuno

[Guest guest]

[Ed. Note: CFS patient given fake IV Gamma globulin.  Center for Special

Immunology, headed by Dr. Paul Cimoch in Fountain Valley, Orange County CA,

where

CFS physician Darryl See treated patients. 

Dr. Cimoch also had centers in San Diego, CA and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 

 

Dr. Cimoch and the Center for Special Immunology also conducted trials for

Ampligen in CFS and AIDS patients.]

 

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=A9 2006 Sean Dudley & Leslee Dudley. All rights reserved.

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Clinic is accused of diluting drugs.

Immunology center under scrutiny in Fountain Valley.

By BLYTHE BERNHARD

 

The Orange County Register

 

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/homepage/article_1206484.php

  

 

SUED CLINIC: Denise Hasenstab of Mission Viejo is shown with her sons Ryan,

22, Stephen, 16, and husband Roy.

 

The state medical board is investigating a Fountain Valley immunology clinic

accused of injecting a patient with saline solution instead of expensive

immune-boosting medication, according to court documents and medical records

obtained by the Register.

 

Staff at the Center for Special Immunology, headed by Dr. Paul Cimoch and

nurse Wendy Fasone, diluted or altered the intravenous drugs over the course of

seven years, according to expert testimony from a lawsuit filed by patient

Denise Hasenstab of Mission Viejo. The clinic reached a settlement Friday with

Hasenstab for anundisclosed amount.

 

Cimoch and Fasone are under investigation by their licensing and disciplinary

agencies - the Medical Board of California and the California Board of

Registered Nursing. The boards have not disclosed the focus of the

investigations,

which were prompted by patients' complaints.

 

Cimoch and Fasone declined to speak to a reporter who visited the clinic on

the campus of Fountain Valley Regional Medical Center. Calls to Cimoch's

attorney were not returned. Court documents filed last year by the attorney say

the

facts in the lawsuit do not necessarily point to medical negligence or fraud.

 

The Center for Special Immunology treats patients with cancer, immune

deficiencies, AIDS and chronic fatigue syndrome. Patients whose bodies don't

produce

the antibodies needed to fight infections are prescribed intravenous infusions

of gamma globulin (replacement antibodies) to boost their immune systems.

 

Gamma globulin, which is derived from donated blood, is expensive and prone

to shortages. The treatment can cost $20,000 to $80,000 a year, and infusions

have been tied to insurance fraud. Former Newport Beach physician George Steven

Kooshian was indicted last year by a federal grand jury. He was accused of

diluting patients' gamma globulin infusions with saline solution while charging

their insurance

companies for full doses.

 

Hasenstab received infusions at the Center for Special Immunology nearly

every two weeks from 1998 to 2004 to treat a genetic gamma globulin deficiency

and

multiplesclerosis, which had weakened her immune system. Her insurer,

BlueCross BlueShield, was billed about $6,000 per infusion. Hasenstab relied on

the

clinic - which diagnosed her immune deficiency - for her primary care.

 

An immunology specialist from UCLA who studied Hasenstab's medical records

and blood work testified that she probably did not receive the drug, or received

minute amounts, according to the attorney who took the doctor's deposition.

 

" The prescribed medication was not given, " said Irvine attorney Thomas

Rockett. " She was wronged. "

 

The state medical board has asked for copies of the depositions, Rockett

said.

 

Hasenstab first suspected she wasn't getting the prescribed treatment when

she was hospitalized with a severe stomach virus at Mission Hospital in 2004.

Doctors raised doubts about the volume of infusions she was receiving. After she

was released, Hasenstab asked for her records from the Center for Special

Immunology.

 

" That was the beginning of my nightmare, " Hasenstab said. " I knew I wasn't

getting what they said I was.

 

A nurse at the UC Irvine immunology clinic where Hasenstab is now a patient

called the records " atrocious. "

 

" It appeared to me as a nurse that those documents were photocopied and that

the (infusion) dose had been radically changed with felt-tip marker over

ballpoint pen, " said Marian Ioli. " Usually when a nurse changes something on a

document they don't write over it. They cross it out, initial it and date it so

you're not looking like you're

covering up something. "

 

Ioli said she doubts Hasenstab received the dosage as listed in the records.

 

" From my experience with Denise, it would be highly unlikely she could have

tolerated the rate of infusion she was supposedly given, " Ioli said.

 

Since receiving infusions at UCI, Hasenstab said she feels more energetic and

healthy.

 

The Center for Special Immunology " robbed me of seven years of my life, "

Hasenstab said. " How could anybody go to bed at night knowing your patient is

getting worse and you're giving them water? "

 

Dr. Paul Cimoch, 48, founded the Center for Special Immunology in Fort

Lauderdale, Fla., in 1987 to treat people with AIDS. Florida health department

records show that Cimoch voluntarily surrendered his license there, although the

date and reason are unclear. By the early 1990s, he had opened the clinic in

Orange County.

 

In 1999, Cimoch's clinic became involved in a controversy surrounding former

UCI physician Darryl See. The clinic reportedly provided patients' blood

samples to See for an unapproved research project on nutritional supplements to

treat AIDS. A university inquiry found that signatures on the patient consent

forms appeared to be falsified.

 

In December of that year, Cimoch filed for bankruptcy through the Center for

Special Immunology, claiming assets of less than $50,000.

 

By then, Denise Hasenstab had received dozens of infusions at the center.

 

" I know as a Christian I need to forgive them, " Hasenstab said. " It's the

most difficult thing I've had to do in my life. "

 

CONTACT US: 714-796-6880 or bbernhard

Copyright 2006 The Orange County Register

 

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