Ohio couple sentenced to prison for fraud scheme involving dubious Alzheimer's diagnoses

An Ohio woman who worked as the director of a memory care center and was sued by patients for giving dozens of false Alzheimer's diagnoses has been sentenced to 71 months in prison on federal fraud charges.

Sherry-Ann Jenkins, who has a Ph.D. but no medical license or training, must also pay a $25,000 fine. Also sentenced was her husband, Oliver Jenkins, who got 41 months and a $15,000 fine on Tuesday for what prosecutors said was a "scheme to defraud."

They were both convicted of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and health care fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio. Prosecutors said Sherry-Ann Jenkins would represent herself as a medical doctor and perform medical tests, give diagnoses and treatments to patients without a license to do so, and would use her husband's name on orders and billing records.

While the federal charges focused on the billing fraud, dozens of patients separately filed suit, accusing the couple of delivering false diagnoses that they claimed altered many of their lives. The cases were resolved between the parties out of court.

An attorney for Sherry-Ann Jenkins declined to comment. Attorneys for Oliver Jenkins did not respond to requests for comment from USA TODAY on Thursday.

Ex-director would order scans, give diagnoses under husband's name

The fraud was carried out between 2013 and 2016, prosecutors said. Oliver Jenkins, whose medical license has since been revoked according to state records, was an ear, nose and throat doctor.

The pair established the Toledo Clinic Cognitive Center, part of the Toledo Clinic, and said Oliver Jenkins would oversee medical treatments and diagnoses while Sherry-Ann Jenkins would administer testing under her husband's supervision, according to prosecutors.

However, Sherry-Ann Jenkins "performed as a fully qualified and licensed physician or psychologist," according to court records reviewed by USA TODAY. "She immediately began assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients for perceived cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer's Disease."

The criminal complaint says she ordered a PET scan – an imaging test that typically involves administering an injection of a radioactive "tracer" to help visualize active areas of the brain – for nearly every patient.

She would order the tests using her husband's codes, bill for hours under her husband's name though he never saw the patients, and bill for medically unnecessary treatments, the complaint said.

She also misrepresented herself as a "doctor," including on the center's website, without specifying that she had no medical qualifications, prosecutors said.

Some patients said they upended their lives after diagnoses

More than 60 patients and their family members also filed suit in 2017, accusing Sherry-Ann Jenkins of giving false cognitive diagnoses that in some cases caused them to make life-altering decisions.

According to a complaint viewed by USA TODAY, one patient, a veteran and a former train dispatcher, killed himself after receiving an Alzheimer's diagnosis. Another took a six-month leave of absence from work and was later let go from her job. One quit his job and lost out on retirement benefits. Sherry-Ann Jenkins told another patient he had Alzheimer's and that he only had five years to live; that patient and his wife sold their house and other assets to move near their children as a result. In another case, a patient's family moved him into a nursing home at Sherry-Ann Jenkins' suggestion.

"Sherry-Ann Jenkins has misdiagnosed patients with various forms of dementia, including various types of Alzheimer's disease, dementias, and depressive pseudodementia," the lawsuit said.

In some cases, other doctors told the patients they disagreed with Sherry-Ann Jenkins' diagnoses, and in other cases the patients only found out she wasn't qualified to give the diagnoses from other sources, the complaint said. One patient who was diagnosed with stage two Alzheimer's by Sherry-Ann Jenkins had some symptoms that improved after she stopped taking medications prescribed by a different doctor, according to the lawsuit.

She also prescribed treatments, including coconut oil, "that lack empirical support and are of dubious value," the suit claimed. She diagnosed multiple members of the same family with Alzheimer's in varying stages, the complaint said.

The patients saw Sherry-Ann Jenkins for help with memory loss, inattention or other cognitive issues, sometimes referred by other doctors. Some had had concussions or other head injuries. They sued the couple, the Toledo Clinic and other employees who were accused of helping Sherry-Ann Jenkins and settled out of court.

James O'Brien, a lawyer who represented them, told USA TODAY that the FBI conducted a "phenomenal" investigation of the very complex situation.

"I was happy to see the whole thing brought to resolution," he said Thursday.