Politics & Government

More Trouble for Cancer Doc Accused of Bilking Medicare for $225 Million

Dr. Farid Fata of Oakland Township, who is accused of deliberately misdiagnosing patients and subjecting them to painful treatments for personal gain, faces new charges of money laundering

An Oakland Township cancer doctor disgraced in an alleged $225 million Medicare fraud case in which he allegedly misdiagnosed patients and ordered unnecessary, gruelling treatments is facing new federal money laundering charges.

Dr. Farid Fata is expected to be arraigned on the new charges on Feb. 4, the Detroit News Reports. The new charges of money laundering are included in the fourth federal indictment brought against Fata.

Fata has been held in a federal prison in Milan since his Aug. 6 arrest on fraud charges. A judge ruled Fata, a naturalized U.S. citizen who is a native of Lebanon, a flight risk and revoked his $9 million bond.

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Federal authorities claim he fraudulently billed Medicare for $225 million from August 2007 to July 13, and that some patients were repeatedly exposed to powerful drugs even though they didn’t have cancer.

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Fata was the founder of Michigan Hematology Oncology, P.C., which operated in seven Metro Detroit communities. In August 2013, FBI agents raided Fata’s Oakland Township home and offices where he practiced. Among those who had received the unnecessary treatments – which included chemotherapy, PET scans, and a variety of cancer and hematology treatments – were patients in remission or end-of-life and would not benefit from the drugs.

Oakland Township resident Liz Lupo, whose mother died of lung cancer six years ago, told the Detroit News that she hopes the new charges will strengthen the FBI’s case against the physician.

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“The suffering my mom went through was intentional,” Lupo said of the cancer treatments her mother received from Fata.

His trial is now scheduled for Aug. 12.


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