Nexus - 0224 - New Times Magazine-pages

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They were accused of distributing "unapproved drugs". More than 7 50 federal agents with guns drawn raided the hospital office in San — An Australian Raid Report — Diego, seizing a tractor trailer of business records, patient charts | Raid; © Manning Pharmacy —9 November 1993 and computers. They also searched employees’ homes and seized | Address: 69 Manning Road, Manning, Perth, WA 6152 US$80,000 found in the owner's safe. Over US$300,000 was Phone: (09) 450 4180, fax: (09) 349 0596 — Maurice’ taken from the bank accounts of the hospital and two vitamin com- | @yarniak : ] panies. . “ ; sng | Outcome: Friends kept the hospital afloat with cash gifts. The — sing cEAU ah Goce ria Stage boa = | two vitamin companies were sold at a loss. Donsbach was forced lulite, nappy rash, acne, etc. The creams were ao aieneaatil that into bankruptcy. No charges have been filed. they attracted very favourable TV coverage on TVW Channel 7's Raid: Zerbo's Health Food Store — May 1993 Real Life—a high-rating, prime-time current affairs show. All Address: 34164 Plymouth Road, Livonia MI 48150 the cream products are based on chicken eggs as the active ingre- Reason: The alleged distribution by 78-year-old Mr Zerbo of | dient. Czarniak had been in constant written and oral dialogue GH-3 to special customers. Armed US marshals and FDA agents | with the Australian Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) cleaned off shelves of coenzyme Q-10, selenium, carnitine and | for over two years. The TGA constantly advised that products GH-3. Mr Zerbo and his daughter Claire, who manages the store, | did not fit in with TGA definitions of drug or therapeutic good, were indicted on charges of “illegal drug trafficking”. but were in fact foods. There is no legal definition of food-in Outcome: Claire Zerbo wanted to fight her indictment, but chose | Australian law. not to do so because the FDA threatened her ageing, 78-year-old Shortly after the TV programs, the Australian Federal Police father who has Parkinson's disease, with seven years in prison. | (AFP) conducted a raid on Maurice's home in Yokine, his par- Because of her fear that her father would die in prison, they both | ents’ home at Nollamata, and the pharmacy in Manning. All pleaded guilty. Claire will likely receive three months’ probation. | goods, finished products, experimental products, starting materi- Her father is unlikely to go to prison for more than four months. als, records, computer discs, answering machines and tapes, Raid: Life Extension Services — 27 July 1994 postal orders, hundreds of letters from the public, cheques and | Address: 7982 Honeygo Boulevard, #46, Baltimore MD 21236 cash were confiscated. The raid comprised 16 AFP agents plus Phone: (410) 931 2044 — James Ryley TGA and state health officials. During the raid, their little son of | Reason: College student James Ryley was helping Americans | !5 months was knocked over and, according to Maurice, "we obtain unapproved drugs from overseas companies according to | Were literally treated like criminals for putting an egg into a the FDA's Mail Importation Policy. At the time of the raid, he had | cream. He was taken to AFP headquarters for a recorded inter- fulfilled three orders. Armed FDA agents, Customs agents and | View, placed in lock-up for three hours, released on bail—condi- state police swarmed into his apartment with guns drawn at 9 am. | Won of bail was not to produce therapeutic goods. They threw Ryley's roommate to the floor, kicked in the bathroom A private investigator on the case found that the telephone at door, made his girlfriend lie on the floor, and made Ryley get out | the pharmacy was bugged, and had been for several weeks. of bed naked. They handcuffed them, refused to let Ryley put on | His lawyers were allegedly advised by Dept of Public his clothes, and seized all the drugs in the apartment, two comput- | Prosecutions (DPP) that if he did not plead guilty in court, they ers, a fax machine and Ryley's two cars. Later, Ryley's girlfriend | would charge his wife with some other offences. Maurice was allowed to go to work, but he and his roommate were taken to | refused, and wife Petra was charged with offences carrying max- a US Customs office where they were booked, fingerprinted and | imum possible fines of AUD$1.4 million. released hours later. Outcome: Matter went to trial on 12 December 1993. They Outcome: Neither Ryley nor his roommate (who had nothing to | were fined AUD$96,000 for putting egg into creams, and told do with the ‘business') have yet been indicted, but expect to be | that these were serious offences, Appeal proceedings have com- shortly. menced, and results should be seen April 1995. 20 ¢ NEXUS ———— — aE ee FEBRUARY - MARCH 1995