Farid Fata

Farid T. Fata (فريد فتى, born 1 March 1965) is a Lebanese-born former hematologist/oncologist and the mastermind of one of the largest health care frauds in U.S. history.

Fata was the owner of Michigan Hematology-Oncology (MHO), one of the largest cancer practices in Michigan.

Farid Fata was born in Lebanon in 1965, to a Melkite Catholic family.

After obtaining a medical degree there in 1992, he emigrated to the United States to begin his medical career.

Fata served a residency at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, from 1993 to 1996.

He then served as a fellow in hematology–oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan until 1999.

Fata was an attending physician at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania, from 2000 to 2003.

Fata struck out on his own in 2003, opening Michigan Hematology–Oncology (MHO) in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

Over the next decade, MHO grew to seven locations throughout Metro Detroit—in Rochester Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Clarkston, Sterling Heights, Troy, Lapeer and Oak Park.

Dorsey had been diagnosed with cancer in 2004, and seven months of chemotherapy had made it difficult for her to walk.

She then learned that she did not have cancer.

Concerns about Fata cropped up as early as 2007, when Maggie Dorsey sued Fata for malpractice.

Fata became a naturalized U.S. citizen in April 2009.

Fata specialized in treating blood cancer.

He owned his own laboratory, pharmacy and radiation treatment facility.

At its peak, Fata's practice was treating 17,000 patients at its clinics.

Fata acquired a sterling reputation as one of the best cancer specialists in the Detroit area.

He was known for his aggressive approach to treatment, giving higher doses of chemotherapy drugs at a more frequent rate—a protocol he called "European protocol".

Fata's wife, Samar, helped run the business side of his practice as chief executive officer and chief financial officer of his companies.

While authorities believe she was a party to the fraud, she was able to move back to Lebanon after her husband's arrest; they have since divorced.

The case was settled out of court in 2009.

In 2010, veteran oncology nurse Angela Swantek went to MHO for an interview, but was stunned to see practices that her experience told her were "plain wrong".

Swantek believed that Fata was pumping patients with drugs in hour-long chemotherapy sessions that should normally last much shorter periods, thus allowing him to prescribe unnecessarily high volumes of drugs.

Swantek believed Fata was deliberately billing patients' insurance companies for more money, a classic fraud scenario.

She complained to state authorities, but got no response until 2011, when she got a form letter under the authority of Bureau of Health Professions Acting Director Rae Ramsdell, of the State of Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, saying that there was no evidence to support an investigation into Fata.

He was arrested in 2013 on charges of prescribing chemotherapy to patients who were healthy or whose condition did not warrant chemotherapy, then submitting $34 million in fraudulent charges to Medicare and private health insurance companies over a period of at least six years.

In 2013, Fata diagnosed 54-year-old Monica Flagg with multiple myeloma—a condition that required a lifetime of Chemo for her to have any chance of survival.

On July 1, hours after her first round of Chemo, Flagg broke her leg in two places.

Fata was on vacation in Lebanon at the time.

One of the doctors at MHO, Soe Maunglay, saw Flagg in the hospital that day and was stunned to see that her readings were completely normal.

As he put it, he could tell "just by looking at the chart" that Flagg's numbers were not consistent with an active cancer patient.

The next day, Maunglay went to MHO and reviewed Flagg's records, and could find nothing in her test results that could justify a Chemo regimen.

He later told The Detroit News that myeloma can start with minor changes in blood chemistry—minor enough that a dishonest doctor can use Chemo to avoid detection.

Maunglay estimated that if another doctor had seen Flagg within two months, she would have appeared to be in remission.

He also believed that since Flagg was far healthier on paper than a typical myeloma patient, the insurance payments would continue flowing to Fata for the rest of his life.

Maunglay went to see Flagg the following day, and informed her she did not have cancer.

He further advised her to get her records right away and find another doctor, and that she should never seek treatment from Fata again.

Maunglay was already due to leave MHO the following month after catching Fata lying about the clinic's enrollment in a professional quality program.

Fata pleaded guilty in 2014 to charges of health care fraud, conspiring to pay and receive kickbacks, and money laundering.

On July 10, 2015, he was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison.