Cancer – the most lucrative trade

When cancer happens, you don’t put life on hold. You live now.

In 2015, Detroit oncologist Dr. Farid Fata was found guilty of lying to patients that they had cancer and unnecessarily subjecting 553 of them to expensive chemotherapy that irrevocably damaged and killed many of them in that process. He personally made USD17.5 million in that process.

The irony is he is serving 45 years in a low security prison (projected to get off with 34 years at most) because he cheated Medicare and private insurance companies of approximately $34 million in fraudulent claims; he is a lying murderer abetted by corrupt systems within the medical and healthcare industry.

Some statements from US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs: “Rather than use his medical degree to save lives, Dr. Fata instead destroyed them in pursuit of profit.” – 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.”

US 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.”

“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.”

Dr. Fata, a licensed medical doctor, owned and operated a cancer treatment clinic, Michigan Hematology Oncology P.C. (MHO), which had SEVEN clinics across the state. He also owned a diagnostic testing facility, United Diagnostics PLLC and he practised health care fraud in both places.

He also admitted to soliciting kickbacks from hospices in exchange for his referral of patients to those facilities.

Journalist Sonia Moghe from CNN unearthed horror stories from the victims.

Robert Sobieray, who never had cancer, was given chemotherapy treatments for two and a half years. The chemotherapy treatments were painful, made him physically sick, his teeth fell out and his jaw started to change shape. Years after finding out he didn’t have cancer, he has lost all but one of his teeth.

“With all the bills piling up, I can’t afford to get new teeth,” Sobieray said. “(I) would like to eat a good meal again someday.”

Patty Hester went to Dr Fata in 2010 after being highly recommended by another doctor. Her white blood cell counts were low, and Fata was a renowned hematologist and oncologist.

“He was, according to the web page, and according to the fliers, world-renowned,” Hester said. She was devastated when Dr Fata told her she had myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). “He said, ‘You need to start on chemo, like, immediately,’” she recalled. She was lied to, as she found out later.

She was in disbelief and as she did not want chemo, he instead put her on iron treatments and, eventually, blood plasma treatments. She was still taking those pricey plasma treatments the day co-workers made her come to the TV and see the news: her doctor had been arrested.

Chris Sneary came to Dr Fata to be treated for testicular cancer from 2010 to 2013. He had 40 days of chemotherapy, 14 days of hydration therapy and dozens of other treatments and procedures. He realised later he was given more expensive and harsh chemotherapy than was necessary and, worse, he had a testicle removed that was medically unnecessary.

“Dr. Fata took full advantage of my trust in him, my fear of dying and, most of all, my top-of-the-line health insurance,” Sneary said.

I have been scolded numerous times by my gynae to remove my uterus because my periods are heavy and ‘it is of no longer of use and may cause ovarian cancer in the long run.” Many others would have caved.

Another doctor found a lump in my breast during a routine exam and started talking to me about breast removal surgery and reconstruction. We don’t even know what that lump is about, but they all started scaring me. “You must take immediate action within a month,” she said. It has been five months since and I am fine, the lump is still there but smaller. But I remember them terrifying me into some kind of action, which I thankfully did not do.

How do we trust doctors anymore when they are given KPIs by hospitals to increase surgeries and meet targets? When hospitals have ‘profit’ targets to meet, we are sliding down a very dangerous slippery slope.

How do we trust the healthcare industry anymore when patients are treated like profit centres and not people?

The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune. Feedback can reach the writer at [email protected]