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Man who posed as doctor to bilk patients gets five years in prison

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SAN DIEGO — A 52-year-old La Mesa man Friday was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of practicing medicine without a license and promising to cure patients of AIDS, cancer and other maladies.

Desperate, terminally ill patients paid up to $40,000 to Keith Barton for cures, prosecutors said.

A 60-year-old woman suffering from an autoimmune disease followed Barton’s advice to have all her teeth extracted as part of an ineffective treatment called “dentritic cellular therapy,” according to court documents.

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“By posing as an M.D., providing fake cures and charging thousands of dollars, this defendant showed a callous regard for seriously ill people,” said Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis.

A jury in January found Barton guilty of six counts of practicing medicine without a license, one of false impersonation, and three of grand theft.

Barton took some patients to Tijuana for treatments, prosecutors said. He had an office in La Mesa and a website promising “naturopathic medicine.”

Part of his deception was the fact that there is a licensed doctor in California with the same name, prosecutors said.

At sentencing, a woman whose 9-year-old daughter died of HIV after receiving one of Barton’s alleged cures told the court that, “I miss my daughter very much. I sleep with her teddy bear every night.”

The woman had paid Barton $18,000 to cure her and her children, prosecutors said.

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tony.perry@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATsandiego

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