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Oncologist Farid Fata Ordered To Pay Millions After Telling Healthy People They Had Cancer And Scamming The Seriously Ill

By Dawn Papple
Published on: 07:48 PST, Jul 22, 2016

Farid Fata, once a trusted oncologist in Michigan, knowingly subjected people who did not have cancer to painful and dangerous cancer treatments and scammed hundreds more patients who were suffering from the disease. Fata ultimately plead guilty to his crimes, as previously reported. Fata is serving a 45-year sentence for Medicare fraud, but has now settled more than two dozen civil suits.

Of course, many believe that Fata should have been charged with murder, given that some of his victims actually died from his fraudulent treatment. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade called Fata’s crime “the most serious fraud case in the history of the country.”

Prosecutors said that Fata “ordered his patients poisoned for money,” according to the Detroit News. Unfortunately, Michigan has a cap on non-economic damages that can be awarded to plaintiffs in civil cases like these. That cap is $438,000 per person.

Dr. Fata and co-defendants must pay 8 million dollars to 43 claimants. The co-defendants in the civil suits were Crittenton Hospital, Trinity Health, McLaren Health Care, and his own practice, Michigan Hematology and Oncology. The settlement covers 28 civil suits and the terms have been approved by a judge in Michigan. Fata’s former colleagues were mortified at Fata’s actions.

Fata’s victims will learn how much money they will individually get once an arbitrator decides in October. Patty Hester, one of the 43 who sued and a 62-year-old Michigan resident, says that there is no way that the amount she will be getting from the lawsuit will ever cover all her financial losses or the the medical bills to fix her teeth that were ruined as a result of receiving cancer treatments she never even needed, because she never had cancer.

“While this settlement will never change the devastation suffered at the hands of Dr. Fata, we hope it brings about some justice for the patients and their loved ones who struggle with this tragedy every day,” McLaren spokesman Kevin Tompkins said according to The Detroit Free Press.

Eve Pidgeon, spokeswoman for Trinity Health, said, “We hope the settlement serves as a helpful milestone in the healing process faced by those affected in this situation.”

“No amount of money can compensate any of these individuals for what they endured at the hands of Fata,” Donna McKenzie, representing nearly half of the claimants, said, according to NBC News. “His actions did not just affect the individuals who received the unnecessary chemotherapy. They affected spouses, children and grandchildren. They interrupted the lives of thousands.”

While Fata was at his sentencing, he reportedly cried and said that he did it all for the money.

“They came to me seeking compassion and care. I failed them,” said Fata. “My sins are many.”

The feds have already seized all of Farid Fata’s assets and his insurance company will not pay for Fata’s fraud. A clause in Fata’s policy states that the insurance company is not obligated to pay to cover anything brought on as a result of a criminal act.

By May of 2015, the authorities released 26 pages of victim impact statements describing the atrocities Farid Fata caused his patients and their loved ones to endure. Fata reportedly ordered over 9,000 infusions or injections for absolutely no reason other than to rake in the health insurance money.

The Lebanese Examiner alleged that Lebanese-born Farid Fata planned to buy a castle in Adma, Lebanon with the money he fraudulently acquired. The feds said that Farid Fata raked in over 34-million dollars from his fraud scam.

Fata even asked whether his castle could be funded by his own foundation.

“Can this be funded from the Fata Foundation?” he asked his financial advisor while he was still getting away with his deadly scam.

This civil suit settlement is in addition to an 11.7-million dollar federal restitution fund for Fata’s victims. As Farid Fata sits in a federal prison for his crimes, the Lebanese Examiner claimed that his family fled the country to Lebanon.

“I stand before you ashamed of my actions… it all went wrong,” Farid Fata said at his sentencing while his victims remained completely unmoved by his claims of regret, according to The Detroit News. “I cannot bring back the past. My quest for power is self-destructive.”

Farid Fata’s victims had once hoped for a life sentence for their tormentor, but he was given just 45 years, and with Michigan’s cap for financial compensation, many of his victims will not even receive enough money from his seized estate to pay for the care they need as a result of his unethical practices… the victims that are still alive, that is.

[Image via Pixabay]

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