Fake doctor fleeced patients, prosecutors say
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer Timothy Syed Andersson billed himself as dermatologist to the stars. Andersson, known to his patients as Dr. Syed, had a wall of photos
at his home office in San Francisco's Lakeshore district, showing him
with actress Julia Roberts, model Elizabeth Hurley, Nobel laureate
Linus Pauling and other notables. His Web site boasted of his research that had led to cures for everything from stretch marks to hair loss. San Francisco prosecutors say it was all a lie. The pictures were
Photoshopped, the credentials and research manufactured, his patients -
children told they had cancer, adults injected with drugs they didn't
need - taken for thousands of dollars. Andersson, 66, was charged with 51 counts this week in San Francisco
Superior Court, including practicing medicine without a license and
grand theft through deception. He appeared in court Wednesday and was
ordered held on $1 million bail. "I firmly believe he's been a fraudster," said Craig Stewart, a
senior investigator with the California Medical Board. He suspects
Andersson has been cheating patients since the early 1990s. "This is
just scratching the surface." Andersson's attorney, Doug Rappaport, was not available for comment. From 2004 to 2007, prosecutors say, Andersson misdiagnosed several
children as having skin cancer. He allegedly injected some adult
patients with Interferon, a drug normally used to treat Hepatitis C,
for various skin problems. He poked others with a needle as a supposed
cure for varicose veins, prosecutors say. He took in more than $75,000 over those three years in allegedly
bogus fees, billing patients from $1,000 to $10,000 for a variety of
dubious procedures. District Attorney Kamala Harris said at a news conference that
Andersson was a "con man" who preyed on people who came to him "in
their time of need." Andersson fooled not only scores of patients, prosecutors say, but
also doctors at medical conferences where he appeared as an expert in
skin ailments. His Web site advertised a 2-ounce supply of his signature green
tea-extract hypoallergenic facial cream for $125. Asked what was in it,
Harris said: "A bunch of BS." The site says the cream is designed to treat rosacea, a facial condition involving pronounced redness. The cream's ingredients were found to include hydrocortisone, a steroid commonly used to combat itching, Stewart said. The Web site describes Andersson as a "well-known consulting
dermatologist, clinician, cosmetic chemist and Hoffmann distinguished
professor of alternative medicine (Sweden) with more than 35 years of
professional expertise in the field of extracting and synthesizing
natural bioactive." Stewart said Andersson had been implicated in fraud in Sweden, where
he told people he was a doctor before he left the country in 1996. "When I interviewed him, he told me he did get a medical degree in
Pakistan," Stewart said. There is no record of Andersson being a doctor
in Pakistan or anywhere else, the investigator said. Andersson also claimed to be a visiting associate professor at UCSF,
Stewart said, but never served on the faculty. At one point, he managed
to obtain an official name tag that gave him access to the campus. UCSF officials said only that Andersson was not affiliated with the campus. Authorities say the investigation began with a complaint by a woman
about varicose vein treatments she received from Andersson. The probe
uncovered more complaints about questionable procedures from July 2004
through September 2007. Andersson advertised on Indian radio stations and on the Internet
and saw patients mostly at his house on Springfield Drive, authorities
said. Prosecutors say Andersson performed scores of procedures on 38 people, including eight children. They have not found any patients who suffered long-term damage as a
result of their treatments. But in some cases, the procedures were
unpleasant. The woman being treated for varicose veins was subjected to 25
needle sticks for blood withdrawals, prosecutors say. That treatment
alone is not a recognized as a standard practice for varicose veins.
Andersson charged her a total of $7,000, prosecutors say. She complained in 2007 to the medical board after her regular
physician told her Andersson did not appear to have a license, Stewart
said. E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010'He's been a fraudster'
Attended conferences
Left Sweden
25 needle sticks
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