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Tuesday, November 21, 2017 4:07:52 PM
Doctor Intentionally Diagnosed Healthy People with Cancer to Make Money
Most of us know someone or have had someone close to us who has suffered from cancer. It’s a terrible disease and no joking matter.
While treatments are advancing and we know more about the disease than we ever have before, we still put a lot of our faith in doctors. Who else is more capable of caring for us in our most vulnerable times of need?
That’s part of why there was so much outrage when one doctor’s lies were uncovered. People had trusted him unquestioningly with their lives and cases, and he had used them.
Over 550 of them, actually. Dr. Farid Fata, who up until 2013 was a trusted authority in the world of cancer treatment, was arrested by the FBI.
In 2015, he received his sentence: 45 years in federal prison for conspiracy, money laundering, and fraud. At 50, that doesn’t give him much hope of making it out again, but many are unsatisfied with what seems like a slap on the wrist compared to his crimes.
People trusted Dr. Fata with their cases. But one woman said that even though everyone she knew trusted him, she found him unlikable from the moment she met him.
Monica Flagg, an otherwise healthy middle-aged woman, was told in 2012 that she had a cancer that attacked certain cells in her bone marrow. Not to worry, Dr. Fata told her: They had caught it early.
Of course, that meant that Flagg would have to be on a maintenance form of chemotherapy, poisoning her cells and weakening her otherwise healthy body. That’s usually worth it, though, if it’s a shot at beating the otherwise debilitating illness.
The only problem was that Flagg didn’t have cancer, and she never would’ve known it if it hadn’t been for a providential broken leg.
At the time, she probably didn’t think a broken leg was a good thing, but it put her in the care of a doctor who noticed something wasn’t lining up: “He read my chart, looked at me very strangely, I’ll never forget the look that he had when he looked at me.
“He came back the following day and said to me, ‘I want you to know, I work for Dr. Fata. You’re 51, you’re extremely active, you’re a professional, you don’t have cancer and you need to not ever go back to Dr. Fata,” said Flagg.
This is a must watch - shocking!
She recognized, though, that she was extremely fortunate to have gotten away so early. She said, sadly, “I did one chemo treatment. The others did so many that they’re practically dead anyway.”
These crimes eventually came to light thanks to the vigilance of George Karadsheh, an office manager who grew concerned about the staff turnover. When he pressed one doctor who had decided to leave, he revealed that Dr. Fata was committing some heinous deeds.
Not only was he misdiagnosing types of cancer to require more expensive forms of treatment, he was pulling people out of hospice and putting them back on chemotherapy until they passed. No wonder people aren’t satisfied with 45 years in prison: this man not only ruined lives, he ruined what last moments people had on Earth.
This news was shocking to everyone. Dr. Fata had been a well-respected doctor, and had gone through extensive training and founded the largest private cancer practice in Michigan.
He understood enough to know what he’d done had been wrong — or at least to understand why others found it so appalling. “I misused my talents, yes,” he admitted to the court, “and permitted this sin to enter me because of power and greed.”
In 2016, the fraudulent doctor was told he must pay 43 claimants a total of $8 million.
Though it’s a start, Donna McKenzie, who represented nearly half the claimants, asserted that “No amount of money can compensate any of these individuals for what they endured at the hands of Fata.”
While this was a horrifying discovery, it was one that needed to be broadcast. This doctor did some horrible things, but thanks to the awareness of a few crucial people, he won’t hurt anyone anymore.
https://www.liftable.com/amandathomason/doctor-intentionally-diagnosed-healthy-people-cancer-make-money/
Michigan Oncologist Accused of Bilking Government Out of $35M in False Medicare Claims
Video at the link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-oncologist-accused-giving-unnecessary-chemotherapy-patients-remission/story?id=19930348
A Michigan doctor is accused of committing health care fraud after he allegedly mistreated cancer patients and bilked the government of millions in false Medicare claims, a federal complaint said.
Dr. Farid Fata, 48, of Oakland Township, Mich., reportedly gave "unnecessary chemotherapy to patients in remission" and deliberately misdiagnosed patients in order to defraud the federally-funded health care program of approximately $35 million over a two-year period, according to the complaint.
Fata "systematically defrauded Medicare by submitting false claims for services that were medically unnecessary" for patients, which included a variety of cancer and hematology treatments given to people who did not need them, the complaint said.
Fata, who owns and operates Michigan Hematology Oncology Centers (MHO), was arrested and booked into Wayne County Jail in Detroit, Mich. on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said. Federal agents raided his multiple offices in the Detroit area and seized his medical records as they continue to build a case against him.
"Violating a patient's trust and placing them at risk through fraudulent abuse of our nation's health care system is deplorable," FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert D. Foley III said in a news release.
Jeff Berz, whose father was a former patient of Fata's, testified at Fata's bond hearing on Friday that when his father didn't respond to chemotherapy, the allegedly deceptive doctor refused to stop administering the drugs.
"From the time that my father began getting the chemotherapy, his health deteriorated," he said.
Oncology nurse Angela Swantek told ABC News she first complained to investigators about Fata's alleged wrongdoings after she spent two hours at one of his clinics back in 2010.
"I don't know how he's gotten away with it for this long," she told ABC News. "I was disgusted. I got in the car, I was still sitting in the parking lot and I was truly almost in tears just because of what I saw and how patients were getting their chemotherapy."
But Fata's attorney, Christopher Andreoff, said the claims against his client were false.
"The government has not retained an expert to give an opinion that there was a mistreatment, or misdiagnosis, or unnecessary tests given to any patient," he said.
Fata is due back in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Tuesday morning as federal prosecutors seek to keep the doctor behind bars, according to court records.
As of Friday, Fata's bond was set at $170,000, Andreoff told ABCNews.com. Under current bond conditions, Fata would be subject to home confinement and electronic monitoring 24 hours a day. The doctor would not be able to practice medicine or prescribe medication, which Andreoff said "could devastate, if not close his practice."
Fata has also surrendered both his Lebanese and U.S. passports, Andreoff said.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-oncologist-accused-giving-unnecessary-chemotherapy-patients-remission/story?id=19930348
Most of us know someone or have had someone close to us who has suffered from cancer. It’s a terrible disease and no joking matter.
While treatments are advancing and we know more about the disease than we ever have before, we still put a lot of our faith in doctors. Who else is more capable of caring for us in our most vulnerable times of need?
That’s part of why there was so much outrage when one doctor’s lies were uncovered. People had trusted him unquestioningly with their lives and cases, and he had used them.
Over 550 of them, actually. Dr. Farid Fata, who up until 2013 was a trusted authority in the world of cancer treatment, was arrested by the FBI.
In 2015, he received his sentence: 45 years in federal prison for conspiracy, money laundering, and fraud. At 50, that doesn’t give him much hope of making it out again, but many are unsatisfied with what seems like a slap on the wrist compared to his crimes.
People trusted Dr. Fata with their cases. But one woman said that even though everyone she knew trusted him, she found him unlikable from the moment she met him.
Monica Flagg, an otherwise healthy middle-aged woman, was told in 2012 that she had a cancer that attacked certain cells in her bone marrow. Not to worry, Dr. Fata told her: They had caught it early.
Of course, that meant that Flagg would have to be on a maintenance form of chemotherapy, poisoning her cells and weakening her otherwise healthy body. That’s usually worth it, though, if it’s a shot at beating the otherwise debilitating illness.
The only problem was that Flagg didn’t have cancer, and she never would’ve known it if it hadn’t been for a providential broken leg.
At the time, she probably didn’t think a broken leg was a good thing, but it put her in the care of a doctor who noticed something wasn’t lining up: “He read my chart, looked at me very strangely, I’ll never forget the look that he had when he looked at me.
“He came back the following day and said to me, ‘I want you to know, I work for Dr. Fata. You’re 51, you’re extremely active, you’re a professional, you don’t have cancer and you need to not ever go back to Dr. Fata,” said Flagg.
This is a must watch - shocking!
She recognized, though, that she was extremely fortunate to have gotten away so early. She said, sadly, “I did one chemo treatment. The others did so many that they’re practically dead anyway.”
These crimes eventually came to light thanks to the vigilance of George Karadsheh, an office manager who grew concerned about the staff turnover. When he pressed one doctor who had decided to leave, he revealed that Dr. Fata was committing some heinous deeds.
Not only was he misdiagnosing types of cancer to require more expensive forms of treatment, he was pulling people out of hospice and putting them back on chemotherapy until they passed. No wonder people aren’t satisfied with 45 years in prison: this man not only ruined lives, he ruined what last moments people had on Earth.
This news was shocking to everyone. Dr. Fata had been a well-respected doctor, and had gone through extensive training and founded the largest private cancer practice in Michigan.
He understood enough to know what he’d done had been wrong — or at least to understand why others found it so appalling. “I misused my talents, yes,” he admitted to the court, “and permitted this sin to enter me because of power and greed.”
In 2016, the fraudulent doctor was told he must pay 43 claimants a total of $8 million.
Though it’s a start, Donna McKenzie, who represented nearly half the claimants, asserted that “No amount of money can compensate any of these individuals for what they endured at the hands of Fata.”
While this was a horrifying discovery, it was one that needed to be broadcast. This doctor did some horrible things, but thanks to the awareness of a few crucial people, he won’t hurt anyone anymore.
https://www.liftable.com/amandathomason/doctor-intentionally-diagnosed-healthy-people-cancer-make-money/
Michigan Oncologist Accused of Bilking Government Out of $35M in False Medicare Claims
Video at the link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-oncologist-accused-giving-unnecessary-chemotherapy-patients-remission/story?id=19930348
A Michigan doctor is accused of committing health care fraud after he allegedly mistreated cancer patients and bilked the government of millions in false Medicare claims, a federal complaint said.
Dr. Farid Fata, 48, of Oakland Township, Mich., reportedly gave "unnecessary chemotherapy to patients in remission" and deliberately misdiagnosed patients in order to defraud the federally-funded health care program of approximately $35 million over a two-year period, according to the complaint.
Fata "systematically defrauded Medicare by submitting false claims for services that were medically unnecessary" for patients, which included a variety of cancer and hematology treatments given to people who did not need them, the complaint said.
Fata, who owns and operates Michigan Hematology Oncology Centers (MHO), was arrested and booked into Wayne County Jail in Detroit, Mich. on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said. Federal agents raided his multiple offices in the Detroit area and seized his medical records as they continue to build a case against him.
"Violating a patient's trust and placing them at risk through fraudulent abuse of our nation's health care system is deplorable," FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert D. Foley III said in a news release.
Jeff Berz, whose father was a former patient of Fata's, testified at Fata's bond hearing on Friday that when his father didn't respond to chemotherapy, the allegedly deceptive doctor refused to stop administering the drugs.
"From the time that my father began getting the chemotherapy, his health deteriorated," he said.
Oncology nurse Angela Swantek told ABC News she first complained to investigators about Fata's alleged wrongdoings after she spent two hours at one of his clinics back in 2010.
"I don't know how he's gotten away with it for this long," she told ABC News. "I was disgusted. I got in the car, I was still sitting in the parking lot and I was truly almost in tears just because of what I saw and how patients were getting their chemotherapy."
But Fata's attorney, Christopher Andreoff, said the claims against his client were false.
"The government has not retained an expert to give an opinion that there was a mistreatment, or misdiagnosis, or unnecessary tests given to any patient," he said.
Fata is due back in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Tuesday morning as federal prosecutors seek to keep the doctor behind bars, according to court records.
As of Friday, Fata's bond was set at $170,000, Andreoff told ABCNews.com. Under current bond conditions, Fata would be subject to home confinement and electronic monitoring 24 hours a day. The doctor would not be able to practice medicine or prescribe medication, which Andreoff said "could devastate, if not close his practice."
Fata has also surrendered both his Lebanese and U.S. passports, Andreoff said.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-oncologist-accused-giving-unnecessary-chemotherapy-patients-remission/story?id=19930348
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