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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In 2004, 23-year-old Amanda Doumato went to the office of John Curran, where framed medical and naturopathy degrees hung on the wall, hoping he could suggest a diet that would help her with digestive problems.
Instead, Curran told Doumato that her blood cells were infested with parasites, her thyroid wasn't functioning properly and that she was aging three years for every year of her life, said Louise Doumato, her mother.
Then, the man who referred to himself as Dr. Curran dropped a bombshell.
He said Amanda was developing cancer.
"After I heard that, everything else became a blur," said Louise Doumato.
When Amanda saw her family physician, he said that Amanda's thyroid was fine, she did not have parasites in her blood -- which can only be caused by malaria -- and she did not have cancer. She just had a very treatable digestive disorder called celiac disease.
Doumato stopped payment on the $15,000 check she had written Curran and filed a complaint with the Rhode Island Board of Health.
Although Curran, 41, never practiced medicine in Kentucky, the degrees in medicine and naturopathy he displayed were from St. Luke School of Medicine and the Asian-American Institute. Both schools were promoted at the time by Stephen J. Arnett of Falcon, Ky.
While investigators in Rhode Island went after Curran, Andrew E. Michael and Larry Lammers were under criminal indictment in Kentucky for practicing medicine without a license. They, too, said they had been students at St. Luke, an online school with headquarters in Liberia.
No charges have ever been filed against Arnett, although state officials are aware of him. The Kentucky attorney general's office told the Herald-Leader it had never investigated Arnett's activities with Internet schools, but would begin a review.
In the Providence investigation of Curran, dozens of patients came forward saying he had told them that their blood contained parasites or "worms and eggs" about to hatch, or that their blood cells were malformed.
At a two-week trial in May, Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis M. Matos presented evidence that Curran sold clients a total of about $1.4 million worth of treatment and products after falsely diagnosing a variety of ailments in more than 300 people. Matos asked for the maximum penalty --14 years.
Most cases against people who practice medicine without a license are handled by state or local courts. But the case against Curran was picked up by federal investigators, who found his behavior particularly egregious.
Dr. Robert S. Crausman, chief administrative officer of the Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline, said Curran is not a naturopath -- or natural healer. Naturopathy involves using only natural elements or the body's own immune system to treat disease.
"This is not an indictment against alternative medicine," said Crausman. "This is about a swindler -- a criminal taking advantage of people."
Curran was convicted in May on charges of money laundering and wire fraud in connection with his treatment of patients. In August, he was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison. He returns to federal court Oct. 12 to determine whether he will have to pay fines and restitution.
E-water and blood analysis
Jason Simonian, an agent with the Food and Drug Administration's office of criminal investigations, said he and other agents interviewed dozens of Curran's patients who had been harmed emotionally and physically.
Curran told a man who was dying of cancer that his treatments were helping, Simonian said. The man collapsed during one of Curran's treatments and was rushed to the hospital.
A man with advanced liver disease received an alcohol-based treatment that made him worse, he said.
Curran promoted himself as someone who could treat arthritis, cancer, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, cardiovascular disease, infertility, multiple sclerosis and other ailments, according to the charges.
Among the treatments he offered was "E-water," which he said had the same "synergistic healing properties as the water in Lourdes." He said it was "uniquely charged water wherein the molecules spin in reverse direction and emit electrical energy."
