Detroit Area Doctor Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Providing Medically Unnecessary Chemotherapy to Patients

A Detroit area hematologist-oncologist was sentenced today to serve 45 years in prison for his role in a health care fraud scheme that included administering medically unnecessary infusions or injections to 553 individual patients and submitting to Medicare and private insurance companies approximately $34 million in fraudulent claims.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Chicago Regional Office and Chief Richard Weber of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.

Farid Fata, M.D., 50, of Oakland Township, Michigan, pleaded guilty in September 2014 to 13 counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay or receive kickbacks and two counts of money laundering.  U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman of the Eastern District of Michigan imposed the sentence and ordered Fata to forfeit $17.6 million.

“Rather than use his medical degree to save lives, Dr. Fata instead destroyed them in pursuit of profit,”  said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “Time and again, Dr. Fata callously violated his patients' trust as he used false cancer diagnoses and unwarranted and dangerous treatments as tools to steal millions of dollars from Medicare, even stooping to profit from the last days of some patients' lives.  While no sentence can restore what was taken from his patients and their families, the sentence imposed ensures that never again will Dr. Fata lay hands on another patient.”

“Health care fraud has been a serious problem in Michigan, but no case has been as egregious as the conduct of Dr. Farid Fata,” said U.S. Attorney McQuade.  “Dr. Fata did not care for patients; he exploited them as commodities.  He over-treated, under-treated and outright lied to patients about whether they had cancer so that he could maximize his own profits.”

“Fata’s heinous acts did far worse than defraud government health care programs and breach his professional oath,” said Special Agent in Charge Abbate.  “Fata caused grievous emotional and physical harm, betraying the trust of hundreds of innocent patients by selfishly placing his personal financial gain over the health and welfare of those who entrusted him with their medical care.  The many brave individuals impacted by this defendant’s criminal acts had the strength to come forward, express their experiences of pain and suffering, and collaborate with law enforcement and prosecutors to ensure that Fata’s despicable actions were brought to an end and justice delivered.”

“It is startling and abhorrent when greed is so potent that it drives a medical professional to recklessly abandon the most basic and important principle of his profession, ‘First, Do No Harm,” said Special Agent in Charge Pugh.  “Dr. Fata did just that when he falsely diagnosed his patients with cancer and administered toxic chemotherapy with potentially harmful and even deadly side effects.  Today’s sentencing is a clear message that, working closely with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate, charge and prosecute medical professionals who jeopardize the health of patients.”

“This is the most egregious case of fraud and deception that I have seen in my career," said Chief Weber.  “Dr. Fata not only defrauded the government out of millions of dollars, but he lied to his patients about their health and intentionally put their lives at risk.  In fact, because of his lies, some of those patients who he was entrusted to care for likely died as a result of his actions.  This defendant ‎greedily cared more about his own financial well-being than the lives of his patients.  This disgusting and diabolical scheme has hurt hundreds of patients and their families and stolen from them something that no punishment from the court can do to make them whole.”

As set forth at sentencing, Fata was a licensed medical doctor who owned and operated a cancer treatment clinic, Michigan Hematology Oncology P.C. (MHO), which had locations in Rochester Hills, Michigan; Clarkston, Michigan; Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Lapeer, Michigan; Sterling Heights, Michigan; Troy, Michigan; and Oak Park, Michigan.  He also owned a diagnostic testing facility, United Diagnostics PLLC, located in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

In connection with his guilty plea, Fata admitted to prescribing and administering unnecessary aggressive chemotherapy, cancer treatments, intravenous iron and other infusion therapies to patients in order to increase his billings to Medicare and other insurance companies.  Fata then submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare and other insurers for these unnecessary treatments.

Fata also admitted to soliciting kickbacks from Guardian Angel Hospice and Guardian Angel Home Health Care in exchange for his referral of patients to those facilities.

Fata further admitted to using the proceeds of the health care fraud at his medical practice, MHO, to promote the carrying on of additional health care fraud at United Diagnostics, where he administered unnecessary and expensive positron emission tomography (PET) scans for which he billed a private insurer.

This case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and IRS-CI and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Michigan.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Catherine K. Dick, Deputy Chief Gejaa T. Gobena, and Trial Attorney Matthew C. Thuesen of the Fraud Section, and by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Resnick Cohen, White Collar Crime Unit Chief John K. Neal, and Health Care Fraud Unit Chief Wayne F. Pratt of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Michigan.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged over 2,300 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for over $7 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.