On Air Now The Up Side
Listen Live

Lawsuit Filed Against Indicted Missouri State Rep.

File Photo

A state lawmaker charged with fraud involving medical treatments has been sued by a patient over the care she prescribed for him to relieve back pain.

Rep. Tricia Derges, a Nixa Republican, is scheduled to go on trial in federal court next month on charges that she sold fake stem cell treatments, fraudulently used pandemic aid and wrote illegal prescriptions.

n a lawsuit filed in state court this month, a patient alleges Derges, an assistant physician, used amniotic fluid injections to treat his back pain at her clinic in Springfield in 2020. He alleges he was charged over $6,000 for treatments that did not help, the Springfield News-Leader reported.

Derges’ attorney, Al Watkins, said the plaintiff had no problems with his treatment until the federal indictment was publicized, and called the allegations “absolutely erroneous.”

In a federal indictment filed last year, Derges is accused of claiming nearly $900,000 in federal payments for COVID-19 treatments that were not performed or had already been performed. It also alleged that she promoted amniotic fluid as a treatment for COVID-19 and other diseases by falsely claiming it contained stem cells.

In February, Derges’ narcotics license was placed on probation for three years.

(From KTLO/Associated Press)

More from Local News

Listen Live to Our Family of Stations

     

Ways To Listen