Stephen D. Meis, MD, 73, formerly of Visalia, pleaded guilty to one count of introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. According to court documents, Meis was the Medical Director of Golden Sunrise Pharmaceutical Inc. and Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical Inc. that manufactured, marketed, and sold products claiming to effectively treat a variety of medical conditions. Beginning on March 30, 2020, Meis and Golden Sunrise’s Chief Executive Officer Huu Tieu, 62, of Porterville, began selling a set of herbal mixtures they called the “Emergency D-Virus Plan of Care” as a COVID-19 treatment. The treatment consisted of a box containing various vials of Golden Sunrise drug products, including one called “Imunstem,” together with an “Emergency D-Virus Plan of Care” information sheet. Meis and Tieu mailed the products to various practitioners, public officials, and other individuals both inside and outside of California.
The labeling for the drugs, including the information sheet that accompanied the drugs, was false and misleading and stated that ImunStem and other Golden Sunrise products were “uniquely qualified to treat and modify the course of the virus epidemic in China and other countries.” Golden Sunrise falsely claimed the products had been the first dietary supplement in the United States to be approved as a prescription medicine by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat the COVID-19 virus. In fact, the drugs were not FDA approved, and no Golden Sunrise product had ever been approved by the FDA for any purpose. On June 12, 2024, Tieu was sentenced to 18 months in prison for introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.