Detroit, MI

An American oncologist faces up to 175 years in prison for a scam in which he reaped millions of dollars by putting patients on chemotherapy drugs they didn’t need, in order to defraud public and private insurers.

Dr Farid FATA, 49, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of healthcare fraud, one count of conspiring to receive kickbacks and one count of money laundering as the owner of a cancer treatment clinic and a diagnostic testing facility.

“Dr FATA…  admitted he put greed before the health and safety of his patients, putting them through unnecessary chemotherapy and other treatments just so that he could collect additional millions from MEDICARE,” said US Assistant Attorney- General Leslie CALDWELL.

“The mere thought of what he did is chilling.”

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation said FATA was swiftly arrested after agents were alerted to the scam in mid-2013.

FATA submitted approximately $225 million in claims to MEDICARE – the US federal-funded program in the US that provides health insurance to the disabled and people over 65 – between August 2007 and July 2013.

The claims included about $109 million for chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.

MEDICARE paid the fraudster $91 million, of which over $48 million was for chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.

Employees of FATA’s Michigan Hematology Oncology Clinic (MHO), which had six offices in the Detroit area, gave damning evidence of dangerous prescribing practices.

FATA had prescribed chemotherapy drugs for all end-of-life patients and for patients whose cancer was in remission, an oncologist employee testified.

FATA also ordered inappropriate dosages, such as 56 doses of rituximab over two years for a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patient where a normal course would be 12 doses over that period.

A nurse practitioner at MHO said FATA had a large patient volume of up to 50–70 patients per day but saw them for just a few minutes each, leaving possibly unregistered “foreign doctors” to perform examinations.

Another nurse practitioner said FATA falsified cancer diagnoses to justify cancer treatments and conduct PET scans at a diagnostic facility he owned. Those patients did not see the false diagnosis, but it was used to justify fraudulent billing to their insurer.

The nurse also said FATA twice ordered the administration of chemotherapy to patients with other serious conditions.  After a man fell and hit his head at MHO, FATA directed he receive chemotherapy before being taken to a hospital Emergency Room, where he died shortly after.

Pleading guilty in the Michigan Eastern District Court last month, FATA admitted prescribing and administering unnecessary chemotherapy, cancer treatments, intravenous iron and other infusion therapies to increase his billings to MEDICARE and private insurance companies.

He also admitted to soliciting kickbacks for referring patients to a hospice and home care service.

“It’s exceptionally distressing to see this kind of fraud committed by individuals in occupations that profess high ethical standards,” said Richard WEBER, chief of criminal investigation at the Internal Revenue Service, which took part in the investigation.

“When doctors commit fraud through their profession, it is not only a violation of the public trust but also a complete renunciation of their Hippocratic oath.”

FATA will face a statutory maximum penalty of 175 years when he is sentenced in February.