Unlicensed Iowa Clinic Shut Down After Years of Unregulated Care
From unproven cancer treatments to an unlicensed dental operatory, the case of Old Cabin Retreat highlights the serious risks of unregulated healthcare and the importance of professional licensure.
Well, this is a new one. Authorities arrested an Iowa man, Eddie Gingerich, in August for operating a facility, Old Cabin Retreat in Centerville, that provided medical, dental, and dietetic care without any licensure. The facility had been in operation for 6 years!
The arrest was initiated after the Iowa Board of Medicine, Iowa Dental Board, and Iowa Board of Dietetics filed a civil case to have the owners of the Old Cabin Retreat banned from providing any type of medical, dental, or dietetic care. The clinic, which did not have a single licensed medical or dental professional on staff, claimed to offer treatments that cured a multitude of health problems from cancer to Lyme disease to hiatal hernias.
The clinic includes treatment rooms, an oxygen chamber, a heat bed, and a dental operatory equipped with tools veterinarians use to provide dental care to horses.
In 2021, Old Cavin Retreat was investigated when a 53-year-old man died after receiving treatment there. The medical examiner ruled that he had died of untreated prostate cancer. The patient had been prescribed herbs and a special dietary plan by Gingerich. In 2023, an undercover investigator visited the clinic and was told she had cancerous cells throughout her organs and was prescribed herbs and a special diet.
After the undercover sting, Gingerich was charged with felony counts or practicing medicine without a license and operating a clinic without a license. He accepted a plea deal in which he pled guilty to employing an unlicensed dentist, a misdemeanor, and paid a $1,500 fine. The clinic remained open.
To the current felony charge of running an unlicensed hospital, Gingerich has claimed to be sovereign citizen who is not required to follow such licensure requirements. A court order has since shut down the clinic. Click here to read more.
