Christina Deras, who worked for years for the Veterans Affairs Administration, winced with pain as she took a seat outside the Bexar County Courthouse on Tuesday.

Gloria M. Gabriel, who worked for the city and Bexar County, retired to the shade near Deras because the sun can cause her body to recoil and she feels like she has “barbs of metal” inside.

The two San Antonio women are former patients of Dr. Jorge Zamora Quezada who claim he falsely diagnosed them with rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions so he could prescribe them chemotheraphy drugs as part of his alleged multimillion dollar healthcare fraud scheme.

They are among hundreds of potential victims in San Antonio and South Texas who may sue the doctor for potentially putting their lives in danger, their lawyers announced at a news conference in San Antonio on Tuesday in which Deras and Gabriel made an appearance.

The legal team at Watts Guerra LLP said it has filed claim notices for Deras and Gabriel against the indicted doctor, who is now in jail. Under the Texas Medical Liability Act, the lawyers must give the doctor 60 days’ notice of the claim, which obligates him to preserve and produce medical records for review by the legal team’s experts, said attorney Brian Berryman.

Patients can sue after 60 days, Berryman said.

The law firm has fielded more than 100 calls from Zamora’s former patients since news of his indictment broke last week, the attorneys said.

“It is alleged that he falsely diagnosed many patients with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and many other diseases in order for him to line his pockets by injecting them with chemotherapy drugs unnecessarily,” Berryman said, adding that the firm has seen that pattern in the hundreds of calls it has received from Zamora’s former patients or their relatives.

Zamora had practices and pharmacies in Edinburg, Brownsville and in San Antonio’s Medical Center, and treated patients for 18 years, according to the FBI, which continues to ask former patients who feel they might be victims to contact the agency.

Gabriel, who began seeing Zamora in 2012, said he diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis and took strong drugs he injected or prescribed over five years. In 2017, she said Zamora told her he did not believe she had the condition after all. He also diagnosed her with lupus and fibromyalgia, and she doubts those diagnoses as well. The medications took her strength, “messed up my stomach” and isolated her from the joys of life like her family and gardening.

“My health is very poor right now,” Gabriel, 67, said. “I have to sometimes stay in bed all day. I became a hermit because of the way I feel. I don’t know what to say. I wish I could go back and undo everything.”

“I’ve been stripped of my livelihood,” Gabriel, 67, added. “I’ve been stripped of my health.”

Deras began seeing Zamora in 2010 after watching his television ads that suggested symptoms like the ones she had. Zamora diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis, and he also injected her with chemotheraphy drugs in May 2018.

“This man stole my life,” Deras, 69, said, sobbing. “I want justice. I want justice!”

Zamora, 61, of Mission, was indicted May 9 in federal court in the Rio Grande Valley with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, five counts of healthcare fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He’s accused of misdiagnosing patients, possibly putting their lives in danger, so he could bill the government for unneeded expensive treatments.

He’s accused of bilking $240 million from government-backed insurance programs Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare in the scam that made him rich enough to buy a private jet, a Maserati, a Porsche and high-end real estate in the United States and Mexico.

Zamora pleaded not guilty to the charges last week and was ordered detained without bond becaues he was deemed a flight risk. A message seeking comment was left Tuesday with his lawyer, J.A. “Tony” Canales.

The Watts Guerra attorneys urged other potential victims to come forward and said they are launching a media campaign to educate people about their rights. They said they are going to work in conjunction with the FBI and Justice Department to help identify victims but will allow the feds to proceed with the criminal case first.

Patients of Zamora’s between January 2000 and May 2018 are urged to contact the FBI through the victim’s hotline at (833) 432-4873, option 8.

They can also contact the agency through email at ZamoraPatient@fbi.gov. Anyone who believes they may have been misdiagnosed by Zamora can contact texashealthcarefraud.com.

Guillermo Contreras is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | gcontreras@express-news.net | @gmaninfedland