License to Kill (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Dying for a Cure - full transcript

Families ravaged by cancer
scramble to find a cure...

- We were desperate.

- If there was
a treatment out there,

and they said that it can
cure cancer, we were there.

- Every day, there would be
worship and prayer.

- They would talk about merging
spiritual things with medicine.

- High-priced treatment
rooted in faith.

- I just knew that it was
changing her for the better.

- The doctor said,

"See how much his strength
has returned?"

and, "I think
he's really improving."



- But was this a miracle cure

or a deadly scam
motivated by greed?

- We didn't know if it
was pure snake oil.

We really had no idea.

- He lost weight.
He was definitely deteriorating.

- People who could have gotten
real treatment

didn't get treatment.

- Time was running out
to uncover the truth.

- The federal authorities
had executed a search warrant.

- We had a very dangerous
individual

that needed to be
taken off the streets.

[brooding music]

- As a doctor
and certified expert

for the California
Medical Board,



I know firsthand that most
medical professionals

will go to any length
to help their patients,

but in some cases,

there are those
with a deranged mind

and a license to kill.

[police radio chatter]

Cancer is a devastating disease,

especially in
its advanced stages.

Patients and their families
often feel helpless

when a doctor gives them
a dire prognosis.

So in 2001, when David
and Laurie Morris received

distressing news about David's
fight with cancer,

they considered all possible
avenues to find a cure.

[gentle piano music]

♪ ♪

- I met David in 1980
at bible school.

He was a musician, I was a
musician, and we just clicked.

He and I shared a lot
in our connection with music

as well as our faith.

He was a very
charismatic person.

He was genuine.

He also had an amazing
sense of humor,

and he was a hilarious guy,

and we fell in love
quickly-- very quickly.

We got married in 1981,
and David and I

didn't necessarily
have a plan about children,

although we ended up
having four,

[laughs]
which was kind of a surprise.

We were an athletic,
outdoors, healthy family,

and that changed in 2001.

David started complaining of
a pain in his shoulder blade.

I started saying, "Honey,

would you please
just go get an x-ray?

This is not like you."

And so in November,
he went in for an x-ray,

and there was
a huge, white blob

in the middle of his lung.

He had stage 4
metastasized lung cancer.

It was acting very
fast-growing and aggressive.

[ominous music]

That was terrifying
to both of us.

You know, I'm like,
"No. He's 41 years old.

There's no way
that he has cancer."

Started trying to talk
to other doctors

about what our options are.

We even went to Duke
and met with some doctors,

and they said,
with chemo treatment,

you know, he might have maybe
only six months to live.

"There's not a lot
that can be done."

At that point,
we knew we needed a miracle.

♪ ♪

[telephone ringing]

A few days later,

I got a phone call
from a friend,

and she said, "I'm here
at a clinic in California.

I want you to consider
coming here."

She said, "I've had a
seven-year battle with cancer,

and I've had a goiter
on my neck,

and that goiter, in the time
I've been here, has shrunk."

She also articulated
it was a faith-based clinic,

which was important to us.

So following that conversation
with our friend,

I talked with someone
at the clinic.

♪ ♪

And I had a list of questions.

How many people
have been healed?

How many people have died?

What kind of medication
are you giving them?

Why is it different?
I was extremely skeptical.

And she said,
"Where normal chemo,

"you feel sick
and you lose weight,

"none of my people
are having that.

"I use some herbs, and I use
things out of other countries

"that I have to bring
in across the border,

and everybody's being healed."

She was very firm
and exhorting in her faith.

All those things made me feel

a little more settled
in my skepticism.

But when I'd asked
her questions about

what the expectations
were financially,

I was totally freaked out.

Where are we gonna get $50,000?

Which was the quote
that the clinic had given me.

We don't have
that kind of money.

We don't even have
a savings account, you know?

And also, he would
have to go to California

from North Carolina,

and we were looking
at months of treatment,

and that meant
not seeing our children.

I remember just crying, saying,

you know, "What if this
is the wrong decision?

"And what if this isn't real?

And what if he doesn't
get healed?"

So from that point,
we had a family meeting.

Our children were like,
"We want you to do

whatever you need to do
for Daddy to get well."

After the conversation
with the kids,

we went to our pastors and,

you know, our church had raised
all this money for us,

and, um, so we decided to go.

[pensive music]

♪ ♪

We arrived in California,

and our new daily rhythm
began at the clinic.

♪ ♪

David would come in
and sit down in a chair,

and he would take
this cup of little liquid.

And we would just
sit and visit and talk

and they were
emphatic that every day

there would be
worship and prayer.

- The doctor, she had a
tambourine that she would play.

She would lay hands
on different people.

There was singing,

and it was just getting
closer to the Lord.

- It was just an easy connect.

David was totally into it,

and he was 100% convinced,

"This is where
my miracle's gonna happen."

[gentle piano music]

♪ ♪

- My mother, Jean,
instilled in us at a early age

a sense of prayer and faith.

The home life was really
centered around

church and a strong faith.

- And my mom was a writer.
She wrote poetry.

And I would put music to
the poems that she would write.

And most of the subject matter
was religious in nature,

because the-- to kind of
bring us closer together.

- She's a mother among mothers.

She was, you know,
everything to us.

She was there for us.
She was a wonderful mother.

♪ ♪

[uneasy music]

I was on the freeway,

and my cousin called me

and just basically said
something about,

"Your mother has advanced
colon cancer."

[dramatic music]

I almost had an accident.

I had to find an exit,
and then gather myself.

I was in tears.

It was the worst news
that you could possibly get.

Because of the advanced stage
of the cancer,

the doctor said that there
was nothing they could do.

They had given my mother
30 days to live.

♪ ♪

At that point,
we were-- we were desperate.

[sighs]

- I first met George
at church in Pacoima.

He let me know that

his mother, Jean,
was suffering from cancer.

And he was very distraught,
and I let them know

that I worked for
Dr. Christine Daniel at

the Sonrise Medical Clinic,
and she has a treatment

for people
who are fighting cancer.

[gentle music]

And it healed them.

♪ ♪

- Dr. Christine Daniel

graduated from the Temple
University School of Medicine,

one of the top programs
in the country.

However, after 20 years
of working as an ER surgeon,

Dr. Daniel injured her back
in a serious car accident

and was no longer able

to perform physically
demanding procedures.

That's when she decided
to reconnect with her faith

and become an ordained
Pentecostal minister.

Then, in 2001, she opened

the Sonrise Medical Clinic
and Wellness Center,

which combined medicine
with spirituality.

♪ ♪

- We initially went to
Dr. Daniel for a consultation.

Dr. Daniel's treatment

consisted of this substance
called C6.

It was comprised of herbs
from all over the world,

and she felt that
there was a great chance

that Mom could be completely
healed of the cancer

if we followed her treatment.

♪ ♪

- You know, if you have to fly
all over the world

to get all these
natural chemicals,

it's going to be expensive.

One bottle was, like, $6,000.

- It was just astronomical.

But my father said,
"I'll do anything I can

that's within my power

to save my wife,
to save your mother."

♪ ♪

And from that point,
she started taking the C6.

- I just knew that it was
changing her for the better.

And the reports that
we got from Dr. Daniel

was that
she was getting better.

- Jean had very high hopes,

and she felt like
this treatment was something

that could give her
a new lease on life.

[somber music]

♪ ♪

- We had been in L.A.
for several weeks,

and Dr. Daniel sent us to the
hospital to have a scan done.

And then she would call us
into the office,

and she was showing me
how everything had shrunk,

and those big tumors,
see, they're gone.

And she said,
"He's in a good place."

So I made a decision.

I was gonna go home
and see my kids for two weeks.

♪ ♪

But when I got home,
I checked in,

and David's brother said,

"He's not doing well.
He has pneumonia."

And I was like, "What?"

♪ ♪

- Coming up...

- Am I being played here?

Is this-- is this real?

- I started to get a sinking
feeling about this whole thing.

- She actually said,
"You don't have a right

to take him home," and I said,

"I have all the right
in the world. I'm his wife."

- The ingredients were not
what we thought they were.

- If you call it a supplement,
you can still treat people.

[dramatic music]

- David and Laurie Morris

- David and Laurie Morris
were confident

in Dr. Christine Daniel's

unorthodox faith-based
cancer cure

and decided against
traditional methods

like chemo and radiation.

Several weeks later,
after showing signs

of improvement
at the Sonrise Clinic,

David appeared to be
well enough for

Laurie to return home
and visit their children.

However, soon after
arriving in North Carolina,

Laurie received
some distressing news

about her husband's health.

[suspenseful music]

- David's brother said,

"He's not doing well.
He has pneumonia."

So I got on a plane immediately

and flew back into California
from North Carolina,

and when I got back,
he looked horrible.

He'd lost weight.

He was
definitely deteriorating.

We went to the emergency room,
and after several tests,

they came out to me,
and they said,

"You need to admit him
into the hospital.

He has no blood platelets."

And so we admitted him
into the hospital.

- White blood cell counts
are checked regularly

during traditional
cancer treatments.

If David's were so low, why
had an experienced physician

like Dr. Daniel told Laurie
that David was getting better?

Laurie reached out to Daniel
for answers.

- And she said,
"That's just part of

the way the body processes," and

she said it was imperative

that David stayed
with his medication.

But I felt the growing sense
of something being off.

[uneasy music]

♪ ♪

- Jean McKinney's health

had also taken
a turn for the worse.

- My mom's getting skinny,

but her stomach was
getting bigger,

and I'm like, "Oh, boy.
This doesn't look good."

- That was the beginning of

where I really started
having some concern.

- For three months,
Jean McKinney

had been taking the highest
level of C extract, C6.

At over $8,000 a week,

the McKinney family
was running out of money,

and Jean McKinney
was running out of time.

- My mother continued to take
C6 and continued to get worse.

I felt,
"Am I being played here?

Is this real?
Am I doing what's best for Mom?"

And it was that-- I started
to get a sinking feeling

in my stomach
about this whole thing.

- To their surprise,
Dr. Daniel told Jean's family

that she would add
chemotherapy and radiation

to their mother's C6 regimen.

- I was very suspicious.

If you're up holistic doctor,

why would you
promote chemotherapy?

- And also, Dr. Daniel told us
that she would prefer us

not to tell the doctors
that she was receiving this C6.

She said it was because the
radiation and the chemotherapy,

that was big business,

and anything that could
actually help people recover,

they would discourage it.

- But why would Dr. Daniel
try to keep her C extract

a secret from other doctors?

She seemed to have no problem

telling prospective patients
about it.

In fact, she launched
an ad campaign

singing its praises,
which won her new clients,

as well as
some serious complaints.

- A man who lived
in Massachusetts,

his wife, who had been a nurse,

was suffering
from breast cancer,

and she was looking for
alternatives to chemotherapy.

They'd started to order this
herbal remedy for her cancer

for roughly $13,000,
and it didn't work.

She passed away within two
months of starting that remedy,

and the husband was essentially
looking for a refund.

But when he contacted
Dr. Daniel,

Dr. Daniel refused
to give him a refund.

- The husband quickly filed
a complaint with

the Cambridge, Massachusetts,
Consumers' Council.

For the first time since
becoming a licensed physician,

Dr. Daniel was under heavy
scrutiny by her medical peers.

- The Cambridge Consumers'
Council referred that matter

to the California
Medical Board,

and they started to investigate

whether or not Dr. Daniel

was selling a bogus cancer cure
around the country.

♪ ♪

[gentle music]

- That morning, I get
a phone call from my brother.

He said, "They had to rush Mom
to the hospital."

- We were all there
at her bedside.

My mom was in so much pain

that she was talking
but not making sense.

She was, um, in agony.
She was in-- in agony.

It was hard.
It was very difficult.

But I think--

[stammers] I'm-- I just--
I need a little time here.

♪ ♪

- Just kind of unbearable to
see someone you love moaning,

and you can't do anything
but hold them.

It's kind of hard, you know?

- It was terrible.

Yeah, it's indescribable.

She passed away that evening,
and she was gone.

[brooding music]

- To hear that Jean had passed

when the whole family
had had so much hope,

and she had had so much hope,
I was devastated.

- Dr. Daniel said maybe
this was the Lord's will,

but that wasn't
very comforting.

I felt a lit--
very disappointed in her.

♪ ♪

[pensive music]

♪ ♪

- I knew David was failing,

and he's deteriorating,
and I can see it.

And so on one of the mornings,
I asked the nurse, I said,

"You know, the doctors
won't tell me anything,

and in your
professional opinion,

would it be a wise decision
for me to fly my husband home?"

And she looked me straight
in the eye, and she said,

"Honey, it'd be the best
decision you've ever made."

[dramatic music]

She said, "You have been
seeing Dr. Daniel,

and I don't trust her."

And I said, "Okay."

There was something wrong.

I didn't feel good
about the situation anymore.

- Laurie Morris ultimately

- Laurie Morris ultimately
came to the realization

that Dr. Daniel's
cure for cancer

was not working
on her husband, David,

so she decided
to follow her instincts

and take David back
to North Carolina,

where he could be with their
children during his final days.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

- I was in the hospital room
with David packing up stuff,

and Dr. Daniel came to see us.

And David began sharing
that I wanted to take him home.

Dr. Daniel, within a matter of
a minute or two, was yelling.

"If you take him home,"
and pointing her finger,

"he's gonna die!

God told me he'd be raised
from the dead here."

I was just totally shocked.

I couldn't believe that
this medical professional

was yelling at me
and threatening me.

♪ ♪

She actually said,
"You don't have a right

to take him home.
I'm his doctor."

And I said, "I have all
the right in the world.

I'm his wife."

And she left.

I was so distraught
at that point.

He's deteriorating,
and I can see it.

I needed to fly him home
immediately.

[tender music]

The plane arrived
on Wednesday night.

David was in the hospital,
and on Friday night,

I had the kids
gather around him,

and he took his hand,

and he put it on
each one of their shoulders

and called them by name

and spoke a short prayer
of blessing,

and then he wasn't
lucid anymore.

I was so glad
I got him home.

I couldn't have lived
with myself if I hadn't.

He died in the morning.

♪ ♪

- Despite the horrible outcomes
for their loved ones,

the McKinneys and Laurie Morris
were too overwhelmed with grief

to pursue action
against Daniel

and were unaware that
she and the Sonrise Clinic

were already
under investigation.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- The California Medical Board

was actually
investigating Dr. Daniel,

and trying to figure out
what was going on.

And they sat down
and interviewed Dr. Daniel.

- Okay.

- And of course, she did
the exact opposite of that.

This doctor
was incredibly cunning.

She was clearly
very careful and cautious

in the words she was using.

She told the medical board

that she wasn't selling
an herbal cure.

She wasn't selling
a cancer cure.

But given
the initial allegations,

our suspicions were
that Dr. Daniel

was actually selling a bogus
cancer cure around the country.

Now, we have to prove that case
beyond a reasonable doubt

and pull together
enough evidence.

- Even though Daniel told
the medical board

she only sold
nutritional supplements,

she continued to promote
her herbal treatment

as a cure for cancer.

- How are you, Dr. Daniels?
- I'm fine. How are you?

- Good to see you.
Let's welcome Christine Daniels.

- Thank you.
- Would you do that, please?

- I was watching the Christian
channel with my mother, Emily,

and we saw Christine Daniel
come on TV.

- What would you say to someone
who's just been diagnosed?

What do you say to them?

- Well, we have an array
of herbs that we use.

We are an Evangelical clinic.
We combine prayer and herbs.

- My mother, Emily,
was extremely religious

and had been diagnosed
with breast cancer.

- She proceeded to take
a treatment in San Francisco.

It did work, and she was
feeling great for a while,

and then it came back--
the cancer came back.

She wanted to find other
treatments that were out there

that, you know,
could possibly work.

- We have different levels
of herbs that we put together.

Depends on when
they want to get in.

- My mom, once she saw that,
she was like,

"We got to try this.
We got to see what this can do."

Dr. Christine Daniel
seemed like the answer.

It was like our last hope.

♪ ♪

- My mother and my siblings
all drove down to L.A.

to see Dr. Daniel.

- I can picture Dr. Daniel

calling my mother
up to the front,

and saying, "You're cured.
You're cured."

And she was kind of,
like, dancing,

and everyone was
clapping and screaming,

and everyone was so excited...

except for me.

- It just seemed a little odd,

because Dr. Daniel was saying
that my mom was cured,

and I thought,
"How does she know?

How does she know
that my mom's cured?"

But whatever treatment
she wanted to try,

I was there to support her.

- Dr. Daniel insisted Emily
begin her C extract regimen

and shun
all other medical options.

But unable to stay
in Los Angeles,

the family returned
to Watsonville, California,

and Emily received

Daniel's herbal treatment
through the mail.

- I remember, it was,
like, dark liquid.

And so my mom
was taking it for,

I think, two to three weeks,
and was just not feeling good.

It was hard for my mom
to swallow.

It always made her nauseous,

and that was the concern
off the bat.

- She was feeling very weak.

She said, "I need you
to call Dr. Daniel,

"'cause I need to find out,

"is this how I'm supposed
to be feeling?

"I mean, I thought, you know,
maybe after a few weeks,

"I should start feeling
a little better,

and I feel like
I'm feeling worse."

So I called Dr. Daniel saying,

"You know,
she's having a hard time.

She's not feeling
well with it."

And she says, "Well,
is she doing other things?

What is she doing?"

And I said, "Well, I mean,

she's seeing
her doctor here too."

And she said, "No.
She needs to stop.

"This is what's gonna cure her.

"She needs to just

"completely commit
to what I'm giving her,

"and that's what's
gonna heal her.

That's what's gonna fix her."

I was skeptical at first,
but the doctor was saying that,

you know, it's--
"The medicine is curing you."

But it was difficult
to see my mom in such pain.

- Within weeks of taking
Dr. Daniel's treatment,

Emily's health made
a turn for the worse,

and she was rushed
to the local hospital.

There, doctors found
that the cancer had spread,

and several tumors had
developed in Emily's brain.

- She had to be flown
to Stanford,

and at that time,

they did operate
on the ones that were operable,

but there were some that
were not operable.

- The doctor at Stanford said,
"Your mom's young,

and she looks great,
but she's very, very sick."

He said that my mom was

not gonna live more
than three to six months.

I really couldn't believe it.
I was pretty scared.

I couldn't imagine
not having my mom.

- Things were not
looking very good.

And she was still alive,
but she was gravely ill.

- My stepfather called
Dr. Daniel

and was leaving messages
and trying to explain

his concern
regarding the treatment,

but he was unable
to ever reach her again.

[suspenseful music]

- Now, Emily and her family

knew Dr. Daniel's costly
treatment was just a hoax,

and that Emily might have
had a better outcome,

or at least
more time with her family,

if she had tried
traditional treatment options.

- She had lost her hope,
and she said,

"I do want you to see if

"you can find a lawyer
to get the money

that I invested
into this so-called cure."

It was just money spent
on-- on garbage.

It was-- you know,
it wasn't real medicine.

♪ ♪

[somber music]

My mom passed
on October 24th, 2003.

♪ ♪

[suspenseful music]

I didn't really want to
think about Dr. Daniel,

but I wanted to support my mom,

and that's when I met
with my mother's attorney.

- Nancy's mother had been
sold some of what we thought

were bogus cancer cures
using the guise of religion.

And it was just so egregious
that we just had to step in

and do something about it.

And we started
with the Medical Board.

- When the law firm reached out

to the California
Medical Board,

they learned
Dr. Daniel's practice

was already under investigation
due to the complaint

from the patient's husband
from Massachusetts,

and the board believed that
Dr. Daniel was a threat.

- Dr. Daniel,
she claimed in newspapers,

she claimed on broadcast TV,

and she'd also claimed to every
single patient that she saw

that she had
an herbal remedy that would

shrink their tumors,
cure their cancer.

But after Dr. Daniel
had been interviewed

by the California Medical
Board, they reached out to

the FDA Office
of Criminal Investigations,

because they suspect
Dr. Daniel had dramatically

departed from the standard
duty of medical care,

and had, in fact,
introduced a misbranded

or an adulterated drug
into interstate commerce.

That's a crime.

- Since Dr. Daniel had been
accused of promoting

her C extract as
a cure for cancer,

it was the agency's job
to evaluate her product

and determine
if it was legitimate.

- We received an actual sample
of this cancer cure

from the husband of
the victim in Massachusetts.

Our suspicions were
that it was bogus.

But to prove that
it was fraudulent,

we had to figure out
whether or not

there was actually any benefit

to the herbal remedy
that she was selling,

or if it was
just pure snake oil.

- Investigators sent
the bottle of C extract

to a forensic lab for testing.

Then they sent an undercover
agent to the Sonrise Clinic,

armed with
a heart-wrenching story.

- The investigator said

his father was
dying of lung cancer,

and that he was desperate
to find any type of cure,

and of course,
Dr. Daniel bit on that.

She actually said,
"I have a cure,

"but I can't call it a cure,

because the FDA won't
let me do that."

That statement demonstrated
to me that the doctor was

clearly trying
to have it both ways.

She knew what she was doing;
she knew it was illegal;

but that she wasn't gonna stop.

In fact she wasn't
gonna stop until

somebody caught her
and made her stop.

[dramatic music pounds]

- When investigators sent
Dr. Daniel's C extract

to a forensic lab for testing,

they were shocked
by the results.

- Despite Dr. Daniel's claims,
there was absolutely nothing

that had any
significant effect on cancer.

There was about six
to eight different compounds--

with celery seed,
chamomile, pine,

caffeine,

beef extract flavoring,

sunscreen.

♪ ♪

I was just-- I was
really shocked.

I felt anger.

Do we actually have a licensed,
practicing medical doctor

who had taken
the Hippocratic oath

selling a bogus,
fraudulent cancer cure

to terminally ill patients?

I couldn't believe that any

self-respecting doctor
would do this.

It just convinced me
that we had to take her down.

[dramatic music]

We really needed to do a
good job on this investigation

and make sure that
we brought her to justice.

♪ ♪

- While the U.S.
Attorney's Office and the FDA

were investigating Dr. Daniel,

several victims'
families hired attorneys

and contacted authorities,

so it seemed like
nothing short of damage control

when Daniel changed
the name of her facility

from "Sonrise Medical Clinic"

to "Sonrise
Weight Loss Center."

- We were all called into a
staff meeting with Dr. Daniel,

and we were told
that we were no longer

to refer to the liquid

that she was giving
to different clients

as a "treatment."

We were to call it
a "supplement."

At that point in the staff
meeting, it was, "Well, why?"

You know, "Why can't we
just continue to do this?"

And at that point,
she let us know that

she was being investigated.

I had questions about

why she was being investigated.

She said if you
call it treatment,

then you need FDA approval,

but if you call it
a supplement,

well, then, you know,
you can still treat people.

And she said, you know,
it's important that we still

be able to give these people
the thing that they need.

There were doubts in my mind,

but I still had, um,
a little hope.

I wanted to believe Dr. Daniel
was what she said she was,

that she was helping people.

- To investigators,
it seemed as though Dr. Daniel

was trying
to skirt regulations

by changing the name
of her clinic

and how she defined
her C extract.

Under federal law,
drugs are defined as

substances that treat, cure,
or prevent disease and illness,

and must meet strict
scientific guidelines.

But a supplement
is simply an additive

designed to support
a healthy body.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- We had learned that
the federal authorities

had executed a search warrant

for Dr. Daniel's
office and businesses.

- We were looking for
patient charts, patient files.

We wanted to see
whether or not

she was actually handling
these people

and treating them
as legitimate patients.

And it just was not
what I was expecting.

It was a-- shambles.
It was disorganized.

There were boxes, records piled
all over the place,

randomly stored.

There were an awful
lot of irregularities

with the patient files.

For example,
Dr. Daniel wasn't recording

how she was treating them

or what the results
of the treatment was.

The next location I went to
was Dr. Daniel's residence.

She claimed that
she had a laboratory,

within which she manufactured
this herbal miracle cure.

We were expecting to find a, uh,

you know, a sterile,
you know, white laboratory,

but there was no laboratory.

There was a little sitting room
behind a closed door

with a trashy
refrigerator in it,

and evidently, that is where
she made this substance.

In addition, we also found

shelving unit
after shelving unit

of dietary supplements
in her backyard.

They were exposed to the sun,
to the wind, to the rain.

They were covered
in dust and debris.

- The fact that
Daniel was mixing

a bogus cancer treatment,
charging an astronomical fee,

and directing desperate,
vulnerable patients

to cease
all other medical care

was not only appalling;
it was criminal.

- That just kind of
underscored the need

to put an end to this case.

Dr. Daniel was
charging $120,000

for a six-month supply
of this substance.

We realized that we needed
to complete the tale.

We needed to tell
the rest of the story,

and that was,
where did the money go?

♪ ♪

- I received a phone call from

the assistant United States
attorney

to review some records that

they had seized
from a search warrant that

they'd conducted at the
clinic and at her residence.

I was able to determine the
patient's payments were going

into the Sonrise Medical Clinic
nonprofit organization.

Some of the checks
had "C extract"

written in the memo part,

and somebody
had scratched that out

and wrote "donation"
in the memo part of it.

They were altered
by Christine Daniel herself.

And she changed it to show
that it's a donation,

a non-taxable source of income.

From there, Christine Daniel
was transferring the money

to her for-profit corporation,
Christine Daniel, MD.

And from there, it was used

in that bank account
of the corporation

as her personal piggy bank to
pay for her personal expenses,

such as the mortgage
on her residence,

her lease payments
for the electric vehicles,

her son's college tuition.

- During this
IRS investigation,

we were able
to determine that

between the years
of 2001 and 2004,

Dr. Daniel made roughly
$1.3 million from these victims.

- She was reporting
zero income.

It was just not a mistake.

She was a criminal,
and her motive was greed.

- In 2006, I received

- In 2006, I received
a phone call

from a gentleman with the FDA.

The gentleman told me
that Dr. Daniel was

being investigated for fraud.

And the investigator
began sharing some things

that they'd found
in the treatments

Dr. Daniel had given,
which just blew my mind.

What type of person would put
sunscreen in a product

and say it was natural?

I can't even put it into words.

It was like something
out of a bad movie.

- I remember my dad said

somebody from
the FDA called him,

and he had this
little sheet of paper.

He said, "These are the things
that were in the C6."

It was just awful.
And I-- I couldn't believe it.

I couldn't believe it.

It-- it was a crushing day.

- How could you come
into our lives

at a very vulnerable time
and take advantage of us?

- She knew that she had
an influence on people.

So whether it's
through neglect,

through very bad instruction,

I do believe that Dr. Daniel
did kill, um, these clients.

♪ ♪

- In the eyes of
the federal government

and family members of
Dr. Daniel's patients,

she was not just unethical;
she was dangerous.

But proving that Dr. Daniel
had intentionally,

or even unintentionally,
murdered her patients

was going to be difficult,
if not impossible.

So federal prosecutors decided
on an unconventional strategy

to take her off the streets.

- One of the ways of doing that

is to rip a page
out of the history books

and go back
to the days of Al Capone.

♪ ♪

- The only agency
that could get Al Capone

was the IRS
criminal investigation.

In the Christine Daniel
investigation,

it was the IRS
that was able to show and prove

that she took money
from these patients,

these victims, and used it
for her personal benefit.

- We nailed Dr. Daniel

for the $1.3 million
that she took in

under this
mail and wire fraud scheme

and then failed
to report to the IRS.

- She was charged with
six counts of tax evasion,

three counts for evading taxes
by Christine Daniel, MD,

and three counts for evading
her personal income taxes

between the years
of 2001 and 2004.

We asked for an arrest warrant,

so the agents went out,
and they arrested her.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- My father was summoned
to appear in court.

He was testifying that

he was paying
for the C6 as a treatment.

And she refuted what he said
and said it was a donation.

I really saw a person
who was not trying

to come to grips with
the damage that they've done.

And that was a bitter pill
to swallow.

- The hardest part about
the trial was her making noises

and throwing her arms up
like this and rolling her eyes,

and that was just
mind-boggling to me.

- As the trial went on,
it just got worse.

And there were certain answers
to questions that I would give

in regards to the treatment
and C1 through C6,

and she would laugh like,
you know,

"Oh, I can't believe that
you're saying these things."

I was devastated.

And I really understood
just how deceitful

and how just demonic she was.

I just couldn't understand

how I was able to be used
as one of her weapons.

- In September of 2011,
we were finally able

to present
closing arguments to the jury.

And after two days
of deliberation,

the jury came back
with a verdict:

guilty on 11 of the 12 counts.

- Dr. Christine Daniel
was found guilty of fraud

for selling
a fake herbal cure for cancer

that contained
beef extract and suntan lotion.

I am not kidding.

- Looking at Dr. Daniel,

I could see that
she was absolutely stunned.

This was not the outcome
that she expected,

and it suggested to me that
she is completely delusional.

- Dr. Daniel went
from a healer to a predator.

She relished the power
over life and death

and looked at people as--

as these pawns or toys
to play with.

- I don't think it's joyful

to have to send
someone to prison,

but Dr. Daniel hurt
a lot of people,

and I didn't want her
to do that again.

- She was, every moment
of every day,

at their sides praying with
them for them to be healed.

I honestly
can't think of anything

that is
more despicable than that.

- Dr. Daniel was beyond greedy.

It was all
about her making money.

- My mother was using her
last months of her life

taking this pretend medicine.

I just don't understand.
I don't.

I do forgive and forget,
but I can't forgive Dr. Daniel.

- People who could have
gotten real treatment

didn't get treatment.

I believe that there
will be a judgment,

and I leave that up to God.

♪ ♪

- Out of a maximum
20-year sentence,

Daniel received 14 years
in the federal penitentiary.

She was also ordered
to pay back taxes

and restitution to the families,

a small price considering
she stopped people

from getting treatment

and stole precious time
from the victims

and their families
in their final days.

When Daniel is released
in 2025,

she will no longer be allowed
to practice in California.

However,
there are still some states

that allow convicted felons

like Christine Daniel
to be licensed.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪