John Toth didn't have the cure to Lyme disease. But he tried to sell it.
Toth, 61, proved quite the snake oil peddling scumbag. In September 2001, the Topeka physician and a group of associates started a company called American Biologics. Their strategy: Market and sell a microscope and drugs to diagnose and treat Lyme disease. They claimed that there was a Lyme disease "epidemic," and that the disease was the cause of many illnesses. Except there wasn't an epidemic. And the microscope and drugs were never reviewed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Toth ended up pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, introduce misbranded drugs into
interstate commerce, receive misbranded drugs in interstate commerce, and
introduce adulterated or misbranded medical devices into interstate
commerce.
Toth was sentenced to time served after serving more than two years in state prison. He'll have to serve two years of supervised release and pay back $25,100.
If this wasn't enough, in 2007, Toth pleaded no contest to charges of manslaughter in the death of a
patient. He served 26 months and was released in July 2010.
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