U.P. man facing federal charges over illegal ‘cancer treatment’

By CHRISTOPHER DIEM, Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE —  An Upper Peninsula man went on trial Tuesday for what he says may be a treatment for cancer but what the Food and Drug Administration says is illegal.


The federal government charged William Schroeder, of Carney, with two counts of the introduction of a misbranded drug into interstate commerce. Both counts are felonies punishable by up to three years in prison.


According to testimony and evidence during the trial, Schroeder claimed that bovine colostrum — milk produced by cows after they give birth — could help fight cancer. The colostrum is rich with antibodies and is needed by calves to survive their first few days.


In a recorded conversation with an undercover federal agent, Schroeder allegedly said he injected pregnant cows with the blood of cancer patients. The antibodies produced in the colostrum would then be disease specific.


When asked in the recording what the success rate was for the treatment, Schroeder said it was “over half, well over half.”


“What would you do if you thought you had the cure for cancer?” asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Lochner in his opening statements.


Lochner said Schroeder charged $5,600 for his services and allegedly preyed on “people afraid of death and desperate for anything.”


Marquette attorney Sarah Henderson, who represented Schroeder along with her partner Tom Casselman, presented a very different picture.


“This is a good man, who tried to help a desperate father, whose life has been made miserable for the last five years as a result,” she said.


Henderson said Schroeder never intended his colostrum treatment to go beyond his own family and close friends — but when it did, he felt an obligation to help people.


She said prior to being contacted by an undercover agent, Schroeder decided to stop doing the procedure. She said the agent’s cover story changed his mind.


Lochner said in January 2003, the FDA was tipped off that Schroeder was allegedly selling bovine colostrum as a cancer treatment. To investigate, the FDA set up a sting operation to purchase colostrum from Schroeder. Special Agent Larry Dennelly posed undercover as Larry Donovan, the father of a fictitious 8-year-old girl suffering from leukemia.


According to testimony from Dennelly, who is now retired, he began discussing the treatment with Schroeder over a series of recorded phone calls and phone messages.


In the recorded conversations, Schroeder said the procedure was “hush-hush” and said if he saw a stranger in the street with cancer, he would not tell the stranger about his colostrum treatment. Also in more than one conversation, Schroeder said the colostrum was not a guaranteed cure.


Eventually, Dennelly set up a meeting with Schroeder, which was to take place at a farm in Niagara, Wis. The cows used in the process were kept on the farm, owned by friends of Schroeder.


However, federal agents switched the meeting to the parking lot of a Burger King in Kingsford.


Dennelly said federal agents switched the meeting location to a public place so it could be safely and easily observed.


In May of 2003, Dennelly allegedly delivered two vials of blood to Schroeder. He in turn received bottles of Impro — commercially produced colostrum to supplement the treatment — and paid Schroeder $2,000, promising to get him the rest of the money later. The meeting was secretly videotaped by Dennelly.


Lochner said in June of 2003, Schroeder contacted Dennelly and told him the colostrum was ready to be picked up.


On July 17, Dennelly and Schroeder met once again in the Burger King parking lot and Dennelly accepted nine gallons of colostrum. Shortly thereafter, federal agents identified themselves and questioned Schroeder.


On Monday, the prosecution submitted the recorded conversations as evidence and the court heard testimony from Dennelly, Special Agent William Conway — who was in charge of the investigation — and Sakineh Walther, an FDA official.