Lawmaker indicted for stem cell fraud Appeared in BioNews 1082 A Missouri state representative has been indicted by a federal grand jury for her part in a fraudulent scheme where patients were allegedly administered with COVID-19 treatments that were falsely claimed as containing stem cells. Dr Patricia Derges, a family medicine specialist and Republican lawmaker, offered her clients from Ozark Valley Medical Clinic, Missouri, amniotic fluid, which she claimed to contain stem cells, with the promise of helping an array of medical issues ranging from Lyme disease, to erectile dysfunction, to potentially curing COVID-19. The scheme was run within the clinic from December 2018 to May 2020.