news-record.com

GREENSBORO — The former owner of a Greensboro medical spa received a six- to eight- month prison sentence after pleading guilty to forgery in a case involving buttocks-enhancing injections that left three women with kidney failure.

However, the sentence imposed on Lauretta Cheek — former owner of Altmed of the Triad — was suspended by Superior Court Judge James Hardin Jr. for 30 months.  The sentence hinges on a successful probation during that period and completion of 180 hours of community service.

As part of plea deal, Cheek, 40, pleaded guilty to two felony counts each of obtaining a controlled substance by forgery or fraud and two counts of forgery. Cheek told the judge she will no longer be involved in medicine.

Prosecutors agreed to dismiss more than 20 other charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, forgery and practicing medicine without a license as part of the agreement.

The cases, which originated in December 2007, involve three women who received the injections at Altmed, which has since been closed.

After receiving a second round of shots, each of the women became seriously ill and developed kidney failure. At least one patient received a kidney transplant because of her illness.

Local and state health officials and regulators, along with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, launched an investigation and found that the shots were not given under the supervision of a physician.

The injections were later determined to contain noveral and human chorionic gonadotropin. Both drugs are used primarily to cause ovulation and treat infertility in women and to increase sperm count in men.        

Cheek was accused of obtaining the drugs at local pharmacies by fraudulently using the name of a UNC-Chapel Hill physician.

One of the patients received more than $500,000 in a civil suit against Altmed. Similar civil cases are pending.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com