Health officials seek people who sought medical care from unlicensed man

A man police say posed as a doctor and treated people at an east Las Vegas Valley home has been arrested, and investigators are looking into his connections to the sovereign citizens movement.

Websites that authorities say promote the man's business include lists of services such as getting women "un-pregnant" and curing HIV. Payment is accepted only in silver, not cash. The sites also detail reasons women should have babies at home, including not having to get birth certificates for their children.

Patients were solicited through Craigslist.

In a jailhouse interview, Rick Van Thiel, who is facing charges including operating as medical practitioner without a medical license, said his work shouldn't be regulated by the government because it involves only consenting individuals.

Plus, he said, he's been studying health and anatomy for 28 years and has treated hundreds of patients, though he couldn't provide an exact count.

"I heal them up so quick they're gone," Van Thiel, 52, said Wednesday at the Clark County Detention Center. "I've read volumes and volumes of books."

Nevada health officials disagree, and hope to reach those who saw Van Thiel to ensure they see licensed doctors.

Multi-agency investigation

FBI agents and Las Vegas police assigned to the Southern Nevada Joint Terrorism Task Force on Sept. 30 raided a house at 4928 E. Monroe Ave., near the intersection of Owens Avenue and Nellis Boulevard.

The agencies shut down the practice that day while the FBI served a search warrant. Investigators called in Metro's armored unit after finding a "suspicious item" thought to be a pressure-cooker bomb with a trip wire, but it was not an explosive.

That same day police also went to the home because of an "animal complaint" reported through 911.

Metro spokesman officer Larry Hadfield said Wednesday that he could not disclose what prompted police to search the premises. Van Thiel said his landlord's ex-girlfriend was feeding information about his practice to the police.

The Clark County coroner's office, meanwhile, said non-human remains were found at the site. Southern Nevada Health District staff are assessing the public health risks to determine the need for environmental or clinical testing.

Van Thiel, sometimes called "Dr. Rick," provided hormone and vitamin injections, according to Jennifer Sizemore, health district spokeswoman. Van Thiel said Mexican hormones were left at the trailer in which he practiced by another man, and the seized vial was never used by him.

Dr. Joe Iser, chief medical officer for the health district, said people who were seen at the clinic need to be screened to ensure they were not exposed to infectious agents or blood-borne pathogens.

"My primary goal is to talk to the people who were seen by this guy and make sure their risks for being exposed to diseases are minimized," Iser said. "If he did nothing more than a simple examination the risk is low, but if he did any procedure that broke the skin, the risks rise."

The condition of the place, Iser said, should have made any potential client suspicious.

"The facility was unkempt, even filthy, with medical equipment laying around," he said. "That should have been a red flag to anyone being seen there."

Van Thiel said the trailer was a mess, and there was hardly room to walk with books and equipment everywhere.

Barbara Longo, executive director of the Nevada Board of Osteopathic Medicine, said her staff investigates complaints about health care providers performing treatments beyond their scope of practice or without a license.

Longo's agency doesn't monitor websites advertising medical services, and her staff was not involved with the investigation of Van Thiel's operation, she said.

Ed Cousineau, executive director of the state Board of Medical Examiners, which also investigates complaints of unlicensed providers, declined comment.

Potential links to sovereign movement

Authorities are trying to determine whether Van Thiel is connected to the so-called sovereign citizens movement.

Members of the movement declare themselves above the government's jurisdiction and say they are not obligated to pay taxes. They also are known for filing frivolous lawsuits against public officials. In recent years, there has been a rise in acts of violence attributed to the group.

Van Thiel used typical sovereign citizen rhetoric in a 2012 suit against a Las Vegas police detective who arrested him on suspicion of soliciting prostitution on the Strip.

"Natural born people are sovereign," he wrote in the suit. "The very meaning of sovereignty is that the decree of sovereign makes law... A sovereign's rights are not derived from a government. His rights are natural and unalienable."

In a police report on his prostitution arrest, the detective said he was a five-time felon convicted of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm in Nevada.

Van Thiel said an officer solicited sex from him, which he offered for free, but he spoke to the Review-Journal about two convictions that previously led to his incarceration. After his release from prison, he "expatriated" and sent out letters to have his Social Security number canceled, he said.

Las Vegas Justice Court records show the solicitation charges were dropped, as was Van Thiel's lawsuit.

In media interviews, Van Thiel said Wednesday he knew two suspected sovereign citizens charged with conspiring to kidnap at random a Las Vegas police officer in 2013.

Current case

Van Thiel faces one count each of acting as a medical practitioner without a license, possession of a gun by a prohibited person, possession of drugs and issuing drugs without a prescription.

Because a gun was seized in the Sept. 30 raid, he could also face a federal firearms charge.

On Wednesday, windows of the home were boarded up, and a sign on the front door warned that the building was substandard and that no one should enter. A tower topped by cameras, installed long before the raid, still stands in front of the house, bearing a sign that reads, "Smile, you're under 24-hour surveillance."

The health district said clients may have learned about the unlicensed clinic through the websites itsonlynatural.me and 49days.me, or responding to Craigslist advertisements under the term "49days."

49days.me offers "unbeatable prices" for curing HIV and herpes. The site says women can get "un-pregnant" for a lot less than the normal abortion price of $500 to $700.

Payment was accepted only in the form of troy ounces of 99.9% pure silver, the site says. The cost for the HIV cure, for example, was 100 ounces — about $1,600 at current market prices.

"The prices are in silver instead of federal reserve notes because we are not open to the public, not licensed, not regulated, and we have no contracts with any government agencies. Instead we contract privately with those that wish to contract with us," the site says. "We do not accept insurance. Payment is due before services are rendered. Other barter is welcome besides silver with prior agreement."

When asked about claims that he could cure HIV, Van Thiel said that while the medical community says there's no cure for the retrovirus, he did it for two men in 2013.

"It's such an easy thing to do," Van Thiel said. "As far as the body goes, I can't imagine anything that's not fixable."

Still, both men were later re-infected, Van Thiel said.

"Unfortunately, one of them died," he said. "At least that's what I've been told."

In many cases, Van Thiel didn't give any treatment. He often told patients how to cure their own ailments — a woman was once cured of a serious disease after he told her to stop taking birth control, he claimed.

Van Thiel also said he doesn't hate the government, he just wants to be left alone.

"If I walk up on the street and stuck a needle in you, that's a crime," he said. "What I do isn't a crime. I do care about people. I live my whole life by the rule of 'do no harm.'"

Van Thiel said he intends to represent himself in the case, and his top priority is to get out on bail or house arrest when he appears in court on Oct. 20.

"I wouldn't run," he said. "I think I can beat these charges."

Anyone who received services at that facility can call 1-800-506-1435 or report online at www.fbi.gov. Information obtained as part of this investigation will be handled in accordance with medical privacy laws, investigating agencies said.

Review-Journal reporters Jeff German and Kimber Laux and photographer Bizuayehu Tesfaye contributed to this report.

Contact Steven Moore at smoore@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @KimberlyinLV. Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl.