Posted On: 08/14/2013 9:48:31 AM
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Michigan doctor accused of defrauding Medicare by filing $35million worth of claims for chemotherapy treatments that patients didn't need
Dr. Farid Fata 'systematically defrauded Medicare by submitting false claims for services that were medically unnecessary,' authorities say
An oncology nurse who spent time at one of Fata's clinics says she first complained about the doctor to investigators in 2010
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 23:55 EST, 11 August 2013 | UPDATED: 05:05 EST, 12 August 2013
A Michigan oncologist is accused of bilking the federal government out of millions of dollars in Medicare claims by allegedly administering 'unnecessary chemotherapy to patients in remission.'
According to federal prosecutors, 48-year-old Dr. Farid Fata, of Oakland Township, 'systematically defrauded Medicare by submitting false claims for services that were medically unnecessary.' According to the complaint, Fata defrauded the federally funded healthcare program out of roughly $35million over a two-year period.
Scam: Dr. Farid Fata is accused of administering cancer treatment to people who didn't need it to scam Medicare
On Tuesday, federal authorities took Fata - who owns and operates Michigan Hematology Oncology Centers - into custody and raided several of his offices in the Detroit area, seizing medical records they say will show that he was misdiagnosing patients in a scam to steal from the federal government.
'Violating a patient's trust and placing them at risk through fraudulent abuse of our nation's health care system is deplorable,' FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert D. Foley III said in a news release.
At a bond hearing on Friday, Jeff Berz, whose father was one of Fata's patients, testified that Fata refused to stop administering drugs after his father didn't respond to chemotherapy.
'From the time that my father began getting the chemotherapy, his health deteriorated,' he said.
Angela Swantek, an oncology nurse who spent time at one of Fata's clinics, told ABC News that she first complained to investigators about Fata's alleged wrongdoings as far back as 2010.
Raid: Federal agents seized medical records from several of Fata's Detroit-area offices on Tuesday
'I don't know how he's gotten away with it for this long,' she told ABC News. 'I was disgusted. I got in the car, I was still sitting in the parking lot and I was truly almost in tears just because of what I saw and how patients were getting their chemotherapy.'
Fata's attorney, Christopher Andreoff, says the government is wrong and that his client was not guilty of anything.
'The government has not retained an expert to give an opinion that there was a mistreatment, or misdiagnosis, or unnecessary tests given to any patient,' he said.
History: Oncology nurse Angela Swantek says she complained to investigators about Fata in 2010
Fata is due back in court on Tuesday for a bond hearing, as federal prosecutors try to keep him behind bars while he awaits trial.
For now, Fata's bond has been set at $9,000,000. Under his current bond conditions, Fata would be subject to home confinement and be required to wear an electronic monitoring anklet 24 hours a day. Additionally, he would not be allowed to practice medicine or prescribe medications.
If convicted, Fata faces up to 20 years in jail.
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