El Cerrito man accused of impersonating doctor arrested

EL CERRITO, Calif. (KGO) -- Investigators believe there may be many more victims of an East Bay man they say portrayed himself as a cancer doctor and duped at least one patient out of thousands of dollars in false hope.

"I have breast cancer that metastasized to the lungs, the bones and the brain," Fern said.

Fern is a Southern California woman with stage four cancer who claims El Cerrito's Vincent Gammill, 69, portrayed himself as a doctor and duped her into spending $2,000 on bogus treatments, including the mixing of a concoction at Gammill's Richmond office that included a bag of dirt. "I stupidly mixed it up and put it in my mouth and then I said, 'it's burning a little bit' and he said 'good, it's still active."'

Gammill is out on bail and being accused practicing medicine and furnishing drugs without a license.

According to Ventura County detectives, Gammill had a large stash of prescription drugs at his El Cerrito home and at a Richmond office. Some of the prescription drugs are considered as powerful as morphine and most of it was expired. "We've located well over 25,000 doses of prescription medication," Ventura County Sheriff's Office Det. Robert Davidson said.

Gammill appears on a website for his Natural Oncology Institute where he claims to treat cancer patients with a wide variety of affordable options. There is copy on the website that reads: "The patients must have somewhere to go where they can get straight unbiased answers without someone sizing them up for their money."

Gammill did not respond to ABC7 News' requests for comment and is expected back in court in Ventura County next month.