ONCOLOGIST OPERATES CANCER FRAUD FACTORY. HE PUMPED PATIENTS FULL OF TOXIC LEVELS OF CHEMOTHERAPY, WHETHER THEY NEEDED IT OR NOT AND BILLED HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS THE INSURANCE COMPANIES
Cancer was good to Dr. Farid Fata. He pumped patients full of
toxic levels of chemotherapy, whether they needed it or not.
The Detroit-area oncologist billed private insurers and
Medicare $225 million, with insurers paying out $91 million in claims. But Fata
often administered toxic levels of medications that patients didn’t need. One
cancer-free patient received 155 treatments over two years.
Fata also ordered high doses of chemo for patients who were
near death and beyond hope of recovery and charged insurers for chemo
treatments that were never administered.
Fata’s scheme began to unravel after a chemotherapy nurse in
his employ reported him to Michigan’s medical authorities. Eventually the
federal government brought charges, and he pleaded guilty to 13 counts of
health-care fraud.
Barbara McQuade, the U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case,
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.