Dr. Farid Fata will spend decades behind
bars for massive health-care fraud,
but his victims continue to suffer.
Patty Hester, of Clarkston, gave away
belongings and took her family on vacations
including a trip to Disney World after
being falsely diagnosed by Fata.
‘I was told I had cancer and was a terminal
patient. I was told I
was dying and the cancer
I had would soon
convert to leukemia,”
Hester said.
A nurse at a medical
facility in Clarkston,
Hester trusted Fata’s diagnosis,
knowing he
was a world-renowned
and reputable physician.
She never sought a second
opinion.
Hester received numerous treatments
including bone marrow biopsy’s and iron
infusions, which she got sick from. Hester
wonders what those treatments really
were, and if the medication administered
was what Fata claimed it was.
“All I could think was I was dying and
needed treatment fast,” she said.
Being in the medical field, she questioned
some things she saw during her
treatments at the clinic. One time she asked
a nurse why her treatments were labeled
with the incorrect birthday. During another
visit, the label on her treatment said she was
a male, and she asked the nurse why the medication
was labeled incorrectly.
That nurse brushed her off, saying “we
have more than one Patricia Hester here,”
Hester remembered. ‘How many men are
there in Michigan or the world named Patricia
Hester??
Fata recommended chemotherapy, but
Hester refused so he ordered other treatments,
always making sure they were covered
by insurance.
Then, she received a phone call from the
FBI. She was informed Fata was arrested, and
she needed to find another doctor to check
her blood. Agents gave Hester her chart which
was full of mistakes, including different
names and birthdays.
‘After they called, I went to another doctor
and got the blood draw,? she said. ‘The
doctor said, ‘I don’t know what to say to you
besides you are going to live. You don’t have
cancer. Go and live your life.??
Hester was speechless.
‘It took time to process,? she said. “It will
take time to heal.”
Fata, 50, was sentenced, July 10, to 45
years in prison by U.S. District Judge Paul
D. Borman of the Eastern District of Michigan.
He was also ordered to forfeit $17.6
million. He pled guilty in September 2014 to
13 counts of health care fraud, one count of
conspiracy, and two counts of money laundering
and receiving kickbacks for referring
patients to Guardian Angel Hospice and
Home Health Care.
So far authorities have identified over 550
patients who were incorrectly diagnosed and
given toxic treatments.
The US Department of Justice said Fata’s
fraud scheme totaled at least $34 million. Patients,
found to be cancer free, received toxic
cancer treatments including chemotherapy,
infusions and injections by Fata at his Michigan
Oncology and Hematology with locations
in Clarkston, Rochester Hills,
Bloomfield Hills, Lapeer, Sterling Heights,
Troy and Oak Park.
Fata and his family lived in Oakland
Township. His wife, Samar, and their three
children have returned to Lebanon, their
homeland.