Investigators arrested Gammill at 10 a.m. July 9 at his Richmond office for practicing medicine without a license, dependent adult abuse, and furnishing risky drugs without a license. After the cancer spread to her brain, lungs and bones, she was more willing to try his treatments, she added.
Advertisement
After spending two days at Gammill’s office, Fern left realizing that the treatment was little more a scam.
Gammill’s website for his “Natural Oncology Institute” remained online as of Friday, where he describes starting the center because, “he wanted to create a non-profit where cancer patients could get a honest answers from someone who knew both conventional and alternative medicine and could give honest answers without sizing up their wallet”. He gave her various expired prescriptions, and made a number of comments that seemingly made no sense.
Officials say they found 25,000 prescription pills at the treatment center at his home, including morphine, Ambien, steroids and other drugs of Mexican and Russian origin. According to reports, the victim who identified herself as only Fern said that she was deeply upset that someone could scam people who trying desperately to cling to their lives. Investigators found no evidence that Gammill has any medical training. Gammill told her that was good and meant the ingredients were still active. “It was three days driving up, I was away from my children and my family”, she said. “It’ll burn a hole through the desk, ‘” Fern said.
Authorities said Gammill told detectives he offered alternative options to traditional cancer treatment, saying he had no formal education beyond high school, but claiming to have earned a doctor of science degree during the 1990s. He proceeded to tell her how to mix the ingredients, which she did, and then they transferred the mixture to a capsule for her to ingest, which she also did, deputies said.
Vincent Gammill, who is 69 years old, is now in Contra Costa County Jail and is scheduled to make an appearance in the Ventura County Superior Court on the 31st of August in connection with the fake clinic in an office in Richmond which he was running. “There was always hope, I never give up and I’m a fighter”, she said.
Advertisement
A 49-year-old woman from Thousand Oaks had first reported the case in June to deputies in Ventura County, and she claimed Gammill prescribed a bag of trash and other fake drugs for her cancer condition after collecting $2,000 from her.
