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<quote> Home > Media Releases Site Search Media Releases FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 23, 2003
ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST TWO OREGON MEDICAL DOCTORS
Attorney General Hardy Myers today filed a lawsuit in Washington County Circuit Court against two
Oregon medical doctors alleging violations of state consumer protection laws in the unlawful sale
and advertising of prescription drugs on the Internet and from a clinic in Tigard. Named in the
lawsuit are Dr. Steven Gabriel Moos (pronounced Moss) of Tigard, a medical doctor of "lifestyle"
medicine doing business in Oregon as Frontier Medical Clinic of Tigard and the Center for Men’s
Health, LLC and Dr. Thomas Holeman of Milwaukie, a current employee of Moos at the Tigard clinic.
Dr. Moos also has a clinic in Grants Pass. The case was initially referred to the Oregon Department
of Justice by the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners (BME), who in 2000 placed Dr. Moos on ten years
of probation for problems associated with advertising and selling prescription drugs over the
Internet. The BME subsequently became aware of additional misconduct by Moos as a result of his
criminal indictment in Multnomah County for unlawful drug use and a criminal investigation in
California related to practicing medicine without a license. Moos’ medical license was suspended by
the BME on an emergency basis in January 2003. The emergency suspension was confirmed as a final
order in April 2003. The Oregon Department of Justice received significant assistance from the Food
and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigation with the investigation leading up to this
lawsuit. Oregon and the FDA and other state and federal agencies are members of the International
Interagency Health Products Fraud Steering Committee that promotes multi-agency cooperation in the
prosecution of health fraud. In the course of the investigation, the Department of Justice learned
that the FDA had a parallel investigation of the defendants. The two agencies then collaborated in a
joint investigation that determined the defendants unlawfully promoted Human Growth Hormone (HGH),
illegally sold free samples of prescription drugs, and made misrepresentations concerning a gel
marketed and sold on the Internet which they claimed contained the same active
"Oregonians must be able to trust their doctors when it comes to the health and safety of
themselves and their families," Myers said. "The defendants’ alleged conduct exploits the
trust of their patients to turn a profit peddling prescription drugs that could, in some
circumstances, endanger their health." "Today’s court action shows that Oregon’s Department
of Justice and FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigation can effectively strike at medical
professionals who violate the public trust and endanger the public health," said FDA
Commissioner Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. As a result of the joint investigation, today’s
lawsuit, alleges that defendants violated state and federal laws by advertising and selling
"Viaglide," a female arousal cream, over the Internet claiming it
when, in fact, it did not. Defendants sold "Viaglide" without a prescription and without examining
or taking a medical history from the user. The defendants sold numerous tubes of "Viaglide," at one
point averaging 100 tubes per month at $19.99 per tube, but total sales are not known. The lawsuit
also alleges that defendants prescribed, promoted and sold Human Growth Hormone (HGH) by
misrepresenting it to consumers as a harmless panacea for the effects of aging when, in fact, the
FDA has not found it to be safe and effective for that purpose. Lastly, the lawsuit alleges that
defendants sold prescription drugs to their patients that had been provided to the defendants by the
drug manufacturers as free samples and could not be lawfully sold. Federal law prohibits the sale of
prescription drug samples with a maximum penalty of ten years in jail and a $250,000 fine. The
lawsuit seeks full restitution to any consumer who purchased "Viaglide," HGH, or drug samples from
the defendants, civil penalties of up to $25,000 for each violation of law, reasonable attorney fees
and a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from individually or in any business capacity
from promoting or selling drugs, nutritional supplements and any other product claimed as useful in
the cure, treatment or prevention of disease in humans. Consumers wanting information concerning
this case and health fraud in general may call the Attorney General’s consumer hotline at (503) 378-
4320 (Salem area only), (503) 229-5576 (Portland area only) or toll-free at 1-877-877-9392. Justice
is online at www.doj.state.or.us.
# # # #
CONTACT: Jan Margosian, Justice, (503) 947-4333 (media line only) Email:
[email hidden] FDA Public Affairs, (301) 827-6242 Department of Justice 1162 Court
Street NE Salem, OR 97301-4096 Phone: (503) 378-4400 TTY Phone number: (503) 378-5938 Updated:
October 23, 2003 </quote>
Regards,
Aribert Deckers
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Homöopathisches Akutmittel bei Asthma