'Miracle Machine' Scams Desperately Ill

SEATTLE - In the late 1980s, an out-of-work math instructor in Colorado built an electronic device he claimed could diagnose and destroy disease -- everything from allergies to cancer -- by firing radio frequencies into the body. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates medical devices, ordered William Nelson to quit selling his machine and making false claims. Nelson refused, and he was indicted on felony fraud charges. He fled the country, never to return.

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