DETROIT-AREA CANCER DOCTOR GETS 45 YEARS IN PRISON FOR FRAUD
ED WHITE Associated Press
Calling the scheme "horrific," a judge sentenced a Detroit-area cancer doctor to 45 years in prison Friday for collecting millions from insurance companies while poisoning more than 500 patients through needless treatments that wrecked their health.
U.S. District Judge Paul Borman this week heard stories of brittle bones and fried organs as patients chillingly described the effects of excessive chemotherapy at the hands of Dr. Farid Fata.
Fata "shut down whatever compassion he had as a doctor and switched it to making money," Borman said.
Moments earlier, the judge called it a "huge, horrific series of criminal acts."
Fata, 50, offered no excuses before getting his punishment. Stone-faced all week in court, he repeatedly broke down in loud sobs as he begged for mercy Friday.
"I misused my talents, yes, and permitted this sin to enter me because of power and greed," Fata said. "My quest for power is self-destructive."
He said his patients knocked on his door for "compassionate care" but "I failed, yes, I failed."