How’s this for chutzpah? Along with Biopure and two other former execs, Howard Richman was accused in 2005 by the Securities and Exchange Commission of misleading investors about the progress of the Hemopure artificial blood product, which the FDA had so far refused to approve over safety concerns (see lawsuit).

To escape the SEC litigation and settlement talks that subsequently ensued, the former head of Biopure’s regulatory affairs decided that he had developed a bad case of colon cancer, which conveniently spread to his stomach and lymph nodes, according to court documents. And the needed treatment meant that he was in no condition to face trial.

To convince a federal judge that he really was in terrible shape, Richman, 57, allegedly forged a letter from his doctor and had his lawyers discuss his dire health in court. The judge eventually ended the litigation against him in 2007, unaware that his cancer diagnosis was a fabrication, according to an indictment filed against him last week in US District Court in Boston.

So now, Richman has been charged with obstruction of justice for lying about his terminal colon cancer and, if convicted, faces up to 10 years in the slammer. What do you think he’ll come up with to beat this charge? How about… Alzheimer’s?

Hemopure, by the way, was cited in a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that maintained several artificial blood products increased the risk of death by 30 percent and almost tripled the risk of heart attacks in 16 clinical trials (back story).