Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein filed a lawsuit yesterday in federal court on behalf of cancer patients who were promised a revolutionary treatment but were, in reality, subjected to a dangerous medical experiment. The case centers on a blood filtration procedure known as ONCObind developed and promoted by ExThera Medical Corporation, a San Francisco Bay Area medical device company. As alleged in the complaint, ExThera coordinated with billionaire investor Alan Quasha, his investment firm Quadrant Management, his business partner John Preston, and his physician daughter Dr. Devon Quasha to promote, without adequate evidence, the blood filtration procedure as capable of stopping cancer metastases and even eliminating primary tumors. Details of the alleged fraud were first reported in a recent 6,000-word New York Times article by John Carreyrou, who also broke the story involving the Theranos scandal.

The complaint details how the defendants misled six plaintiff families into paying $45,000 and traveling to the island of Antigua with the promise of a purported miracle treatment. Not one plaintiff victim’s condition improved, and three plaintiff recipients died within weeks of the blood filtrations. Plaintiffs further allege that, for those who survived, their cancers worsened, in part because all victims were told to discontinue chemotherapy in advance and subsequent to the ONCObind procedure.

“The defendants here misled desperate families battling advanced cancer into serving as human guinea pigs. Their conduct was grotesque and truly shocks the conscience,” Lieff Cabraser partner Robert J. Nelson said.

The complaint alleges that the defendants traded on elite credentials in an effort to lure the plaintiff families to what they intended to be their first in a chain of cancer-curing clinics. The complaint alleges that the defendants promised a procedure backed by strong scientific evidence, and no one provided informed consent for what amounted to human experimentation.

“There have been tremendous advances in cancer treatment in recent years, and it is understandable that individuals seeking the best for themselves and their families would fall prey to this medical fraud,” Lieff Cabraser partner Michael Levin-Gesundheit said.

The complaint alleges that the facility itself was not equipped to treat patients with advanced cancer, needlessly increasing the plaintiffs’ suffering. As alleged in the complaint and as reported in the New York Times, the defendants went forward with dangerous blood filtration despite earlier warnings from an ExThera whistleblower communicated to the company’s executives that the filtrations were an unethical and unsafe human experiment.

“In addition to patients who underwent the procedure, we represent patients’ spouses who spent years navigating the medical system to give their loved ones the best possible chance to defeat their serious diagnoses. It is incredibly disturbing that this fraud took advantage of that very dedication,” Lieff Cabraser attorney Courtney J. Liss said.

The plaintiffs bring a variety of legal claims based on the misconduct, including fraud, battery and wrongful death. “We look forward to seeking and proving punitive damages at trial,” Nelson added.

The case is Hudlow, et al. v. ExThera Medical Corp. et al. and was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco/Oakland).

The plaintiffs are represented by Robert J. Nelson, Michael Levin-Gesundheit, and Courtney J. Liss.

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Lieff Cabraser Files Lawsuit Stemming From Deadly Medical Experimentation On Cancer Patients