Friday, July 22, 2005

D.A. BROWN: QUEENS WOMAN CHARGED WITH UNLAWFULLY POSING AS MEDICAL DOCTOR AND NUTRITIONIST ALLEGEDLY INJECTED PATIENTS USING OFFICES IN CLOTHING STORE AND RESIDENTIAL APARTMENT WITH NON FDA APPROVED INTRAVENOUS SUBSTANCE CAUSING LIFE-THREATENING BACTERIAL INFECTION; FACES UP TO SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON; HUSBAND ARRESTED FOR ATTEMPTING TO CONCEAL EVIDENCE

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that a Queens women has been charged with posing as a physician and nutritionist and recklessly endangering the lives of patients she was unauthorized to treat by injecting them with a non FDA approved intravenous substance in offices in the rear of an Elmhurst clothing store and in a Jackson Heights residence which caused life-threatening infection. Her husband has been charged with attempting to conceal evidence of his wife’s unlawful practice.

District Attorney Brown said, “The defendant is alleged to have unlawfully posed as a physician and nutritionist and preyed upon unsuspecting individuals who believed that she was a doctor, injecting them with a non FDA approved intravenous substance. Her conduct was dangerous and placed the lives of those who came to her to be treated at risk.”

Daniel Kelleher, Director of the New York State Department of Education’s Office of Professional Discipline said, “I commend the excellent cooperation by my Office of Professional Discipline and the Queens District Attorney’s Office in taking out of practice an individual who posed a substantial risk to the public because she is not a licensed physician. The Education Department issues all professional licenses and ensures that the public is protected from those who claim to be professionals but are nothing more than untrained, unqualified and/or incompetent imposters.”

District Attorney Brown identified the defendants as Nelly Cornejo Zeller, also known as Elena Gonzales and Ana Zamora, 45, and her husband, Luis Gonzales,41, both of 32-25 91 Street in East Elmhurst, Queens. Defendant Zeller has been charged with Assault in the Second Degree, Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree, Unlicensed Practice of Medicine, Unlicensed Practice of Nursing and Criminal Possession of A Hypodermic Instrument and faces a sentence of up to seven years in prison if convicted. Defendant Luis Gonzales has been charged with Attempted Tampering with Physical Evidence and Obstructing Governmental Administration in the Second Degree and faces a sentence of up to one year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine if convicted.

The District Attorney said that according to the criminal complaint, on or about July 3, 2005, defendant Zeller, unlawfully posing as a physician and nutritionist, conducted an examination of the victim, a 36-year-old female, in an office at the rear of a clothing store -- TRI Fashions -- at 8740 Britton Avenue in Elmhurst, Queens and gave vitamin pills to the victim who was suffering from fatigue and told her to return in two weeks. The rear office had an examining table and was set up to appear like a doctor’s office.

District Attorney Brown said that according to the charges, on July 17, 2005, defendant Zeller took the victim to her office -- a second floor apartment of a three-story residential building located at 35-27 87th Street in Jackson Heights -- and administered an intravenous drip of a non-FDA approved intravenous substance -- with vitamin B complex made in Guayaquil, Ecuador -- to the victim. Shortly after, the patient became violently ill and was subsequently admitted to the intensive care unit of a local hospital. According to the New York City Department of Health, tests of the intravenous bag indicated that the victim suffered from a severe case of sepsis -- a bacterial infection -- which could have caused her death.

Detectives of the NYPD Major Case Squad and investigators from the NYC Department of Health and NYS Department of Education’s Office of Professional Discipline executed court-authorized search warrants prepared by the District Attorney’s Economic and Environmental Crimes Bureau yesterday at the defendant’s “office” at 35-27 87th Street in Jackson Heights and the rear office of TRI Clothing Fashion at 8740 Britton Avenue in Elmhurst and recovered bloody sheets, needles and numerous blood collection vials, a centrifuge, an examining table, various antibiotics including Erythromycin from China, vials of the above-mentioned vitamin B complex from Ecuador, fecal sample bottles and lab testing records. In addition, detectives recovered signs from the front of the clothing store which indicated the office of “Dr. Nelly Cornejo Zeller” and that she performed various tests. Upon execution of the search warrant, the word “Dr.” was whitened out as well as the words “examenes de sangre” which means “blood exams” in Spanish.

According to officials of NYS Department of Education’s Office of Professional Discipline it is illegal for anyone who is not a physician licensed to practice medicine or nurse licensed to practice nursing in New York to inject any substance into an individual or perform medical procedures. There is no record of defendant Zeller being licensed to practice medicine or nursing.

District Attorney Brown said that defendant Gonzales was arrested when detectives executed a search warrant at the Jackson Heights residence and the defendant made a statement in Spanish which was overheard by a Spanish speaking police officer instructing another to “get rid of the stuff at the store.” He is being held pending arraignment in Queens Criminal Court.

According to District Attorney Brown, a complaint has been filed and an arrest warrant issued for defendant Zeller who fled after the victim was hospitalized.

The investigation began on Wednesday, July 20, 2005, when the NYC Department of Health contacted the Queens District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Police Department after the female victim was hospitalized. The NYPD Major Case Squad together with investigators from the NYC Department of Health and NYS OPD were assigned to investigate.

The investigation was conducted by New York City Police Department Major Case Squad Detectives Philip Schurr, John Brandt, Louis Cicio, Christopher Secrest, Mark Fishstein, Paul Waszalewski, and Thomas Mullen under the supervision of Sergeants Frank Ventura and Robert Young, and under the overall supervision of Deputy Chief Jeremiah Quinlan and Deputy Inspector Michael Hines; New York State Department of Education, Office of Professional Discipline Senior Investigator Christos Nicola under the supervision of Chief Investigator Daniel Kelleher and with the assistance of New York City Department of Health Doctors Elsie Lee and Don Weiss.

Assistant District Attorney Mariana Zelig of the District Attorney's Economic and Environmental Crimes Bureau prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Gregory C. Pavlides, Bureau Chief and Diane Peress, Deputy Chief and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.

It should be noted that criminal charges are merely an accusation and that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.