Doc Told Hundreds of Healthy People They Had Cancer

The office of Dr. Farid Fata in Oak Park, Mich. (Image via AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The office of Dr. Farid Fata in Oak Park, Mich. (Image via AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Dr. Farid Fata put hundreds of people through hell in order to line his own pockets, and now federal prosecutors are seeking to put the Detroit-area oncologist away for 175 years. Fata has admitted that he misdiagnosed patients — 553 of them, according to prosecutors — and ordered chemotherapy and other unnecessary treatments for patients who didn’t even have cancer, report NBC News, which says some 9,000 needless injections or infusions were allegedly given.

Fata’s sentencing begins today. The hearing could take more than a week, according to the Detroit Free Press, as patients and experts testify for a sentence that could fall between 25 and 175 years.

Prosecutors say patients who really did have cancer were lied to about their chances of survival so he could give them more treatments. The doctor, who bilked patients and insurance companies for millions, in September pleaded guilty to fraud and will face some of his victims at a sentencing hearing that begins today, reports WXYZ.

Dr. Farid Fata. (Photo: WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7 | YouTube)
Dr. Farid Fata. (Photo: WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7 | YouTube)