Doctor Convicted of Falsely Diagnosing Patients With Cancer to Sell Chemo Drugs
The West Wire
From Detroit Free Pree–In a crowded courtroom in downtown Detroit, the onetime prominent cancer doctor stood before the judge.
With his hands cuffed and his head lowered, the man in the bright red jail suit made a surprise move.
Dr. Farid Fata, who was charged with intentionally misdiagnosing healthy people with cancer and pumping dying patients with chemo to make money, pleaded guilty.
“It is my choice,” Fata said on Tuesday of his surprise guilty plea, which included rattling off the names of numerous drugs he prescribed for his patients over the years. In each admission, he uttered these words:
“I knew that it was medically unnecessary.”
Fata, 49, a married father of three, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of health care fraud, two counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks. He faces sentencing in February before U.S. District Judge Paul Borman.
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said she plans to seek life in prison for Fata, calling his case is “the most egregious” health care fraud case her office has seen. She said Fata not only bilked the government — which is typical in such cases — but he also harmed patients.
“Charged with intentionally misdiagnosing healthy people with cancer and pumping dying patients with chemo to make money”
In a surprise move, cancer doctor Farid Fata pleaded guilty today to his role in a health care scam. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade talks about the case. Tresa Baldas
“In this case, we had Dr. Fata administering chemotherapy to people who didn’t need it, essentially putting poison into their bodies and telling them that they had cancer when they didn’t have cancer,” McQuade told the Free Press. “The idea that a doctor would lie to a patient just to make money is shocking … Dr. Fata was unique in that he saw patients not as people to heal, but as commodities to exploit.”
McQuade said her office wasn’t completely surprised by the sudden guilty plea, which came during what was supposed to be a hearing on evidence that would be presented at trial.
Fata’s lawyers, Mark Kriger and Christopher Andreoff, declined comment.
Fata of Oakland Township was charged with running a $35-million Medicare fraud scheme that involved billing the government for medically unnecessary oncology and hematology treatments. The government says Fata ran the scheme from 2009 to the present, through his medical businesses, including Michigan Hematology Oncology Centers, with offices in Clarkston, Bloomfield Hills, Lapeer, Sterling Heights, Troy and Oak Park.
“I knew that it was medically unnecessary”
Continued...
Originally Posted by FindLiberty
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