Kurt Donsbach, 73, has no license to practice medicine in California, but he has been doing so for decades and this is not the first time it has got him in trouble, according to investigators.
Despite not having a medical license, Donsbach gave medical advice and sold supplements on his website, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said. Investigators removed boxes of evidence from his home Thursday.
Court records claim he has deposited $6 million over the past two years. Dumanis said Donsbach offered treatment to cancer patients.
“He shouldn't be preying on these types of people," she said.
A search warrant claims he told patients he was a doctor, and was 60-percent successful in treating cancer, and would supply them mislabeled, non-FDA approved drugs.
"He was also giving out steroids, which is what really hurt one of the victims," Dumanis said.
That victim took Donsbach's recommendations for six years and ended up with severe bone density loss.
Donsbach may look familiar; he operated the holistic healing center in Mexico where Corretta Scott King went with ovarian cancer just before her death. The clinic was later closed.
Donsbach was never blamed for her death, but there are complaints against him that go back to the early 1970's. In fact, 13 years ago he pleaded guilty in San Diego to bringing unapproved drugs across the border.
Investigators are trying to find out how many patients he treated and they have a message for all of them.
“If you bought something off the Internet from this defendant, then we need to know about it, and you need to stop taking it," Dumanis said.
Prosecutors are asking any alleged victims to call the district attorney's office complaint hot line at 619-531-3115.
Donsbach is facing 11 felony counts and was booked on $1.5 million bail. He's scheduled to be arraigned Friday.
