A La Mesa man has been charged with grand theft, impersonating a retired physician and treating two patients with AIDS and cancer who later died following unusual treatments.
Keith Allen Barton, 51, posted $100,000 bond in late January after being charged with five felonies in which he is accused of claiming to be a physician and treating two AIDS patients.
Barton told patients he wanted their blood drawn and proposed having it injected back into their body after putting the blood through a chemical process he called “cellular dendritic therapy.” The patients also took supplements that were sold to them by Barton.
Barton is also accused of identity theft of a retired physician who also has the same name and previously practiced in Berkeley. Barton is accused of posing as that physician and using his medical license number in the fraud.
A preliminary hearing has been set for May 7 in San Diego Superior Court. Barton was arrested Jan. 8 and has pleaded not guilty.
A mother who researched Barton’s credentials over the Internet told the California Medical Board that Barton claimed to be the same physician from Berkeley and he had moved here. Barton had advertised his AIDS and cancer treatment on several Web sites.
The mother’s two children who were HIV+ were treated by Barton, but her 9-year-old daughter did not improve and died in 2010. The mother paid $18,000 to Barton for treating the two children. She asked for a refund, but Barton told her she would have to come up with another patient for him, according to court records.
A man with cancer was looking for alternative treatments and began consulting with Barton in 2008. The man had his blood drawn and sent to Barton, who claimed he put it through some type of process and sent it back to the man who injected it back into his body.
The man also paid Barton $18,000 before he died in October 2008. His daughter talked to the California Medical Board about her father’s unconventional treatments, according to an arrest warrant declaration.
A senior Medical Board investigator posed as a potential patient and contacted Barton Dec. 19, 2012. She told him she was re-diagnosed with cancer and was seeking alternative treatment. Barton told her he makes a “cancer vaccine that will make the cancer go away” if patients take the injections.
Barton said the three month “dendritic cell treatment” costs $8,760 and was not covered by insurance. Barton told her the treatment works and insurance companies only make money off ineffective treatments.
The investigator wanted to meet with Barton, but he told her it wasn’t necessary if she sent him her full medical and dental records plus cash or a cashier’s check. Barton reluctantly agreed to meet with the investigator at a Coco’s restaurant in San Ysidro, where he was arrested.
