Massachusetts sues Florida doctor over unlicensed penis injections at Framingham clinic

The Massachusetts Attorney General's office has sued a Florida concern that set up a Rte. 9 clinic to treat erectile dysfunction through penis injections - done by people with no medical or nursing certification - but sometimes by selling patients the generic versions of drugs whose brand names its workers disparaged.

In its lawsuit, filed last month in Suffolk Superior Court, the AG's office wants a judge to permanently bar Dr. Kevin Hornsby and his Florida Men's Medical clinic from ever again setting up shop in Massachusetts, at least to treat erectile dysfunction. Because Hornsby lives in Florida, his lawyers this week had the suit transferred to US District Court in Boston.

The lawsuit says the now closed Mass. Men's Clinic at 463 Worcester Rd. advertised the "newest available safe and effective medications" custom blended based on patients' unique biochemistry, with "virtually" no pain and with a near-100% efficacy rate, compared to the barely 30% effectiveness rate of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra. The clinic's ads, however, did not mention the injection part - that was left until the last moment of a patient's initial consultation.

In fact, the state charges, the drugs the clinic preferred - due to their high profit margins - were older than the brand-name drugs, were not custom blended because the clinic never did anything to test patients' biochemistry, and potential side effects included both pain and those four-hour erections, because the drugs were injected into patients' penises. And because the injections were not mentioned in clinic ads, that's deceptive advertising, the state avers.

Hornsby himself, the state says, was not licensed to practice medicine in Massachusetts.

The state adds:

All or almost all penile injections at MMM were given by FMMC employees who were not physicians, physicians' assistants or nurses (the "Injectors").

At least at certain times, the Injectors selected the formula of medications to inject into consumers' penises.

FMMC directed the Injectors that after giving injections of the blended medications "No matter the firmness of the reaction, sound optimistic and happy for the patient."

And when the clinic did offer patients "sublingual" drugs instead of penile injections, it told patients that letting the pills dissolve under the tongue was far more effective than swallowing a Viagra or Cialis pill.

In at least one instance, FMMC prescribed tadalafil to a consumer who had reported having poor results with Cialis - whose active ingredient is tadalafil.

The state says some men decided not to get the injections:

One Massachusetts consumer wrote to Kevin Hornsby saying

The Doctor who interviewed me 'was very professional but left the 'kicker' until the end. "Stick a sharp object into my junk?" That's a 'Non Starter' in any interview. I find the proposal to be mislleading and dishonest. Ifyour medicine is such a wonder, why not an oral application?

Men who called the clinic's number were answered in a call center, where workers had tightly-scripted pitches:

The Pitch Scripts directed the FMMC employees to state to consumers, "Normally, we're way overbooked, but I might be able to squeeze you in the next few days."

The clinic injectors also had scripts with which to try to comfort patients, the suit alleges:

Within the Hornsby ED Script, Kevin Hornsby wrote,

-when you push a button a SMALL HAIRLINE INJECTOR WILL DROP DOWN AND SLIP UNDER THE SKIN-IT WONT HURT ... WILL FEEL LIKE A THUMP BECAUSE ITS ABOVE THE NERVES IN THE PENIS (Theres [sic] your twenty critical words-ifyou say shot/gun/needle.....we are dead in the water and the patient will RUN out fast-i wouldn't blame him).

Also:

Through May 2014, FMMC required its employees, including at MMM, who sold quantities ofmedication to consumers, but had no medical licensure, to wear white lab coats.

As medical scrubs and white coats are generally worn in medical settings by medical personnel, these practices falsely suggested to consumers that these unlicensed personnel were licensed medical professionals.

The lawsuit continues that the state Department of Public Health warned Hornsby in 2012 that the clinic was violating state law because it didn't have a license.

Last December, a Florida attorney filed a class-action suit against Hornsby, the month after Minnesota suspended the doctor heading up his clinic there.

The complete state complaint against Hornsby.