Dr. Farid Fata, who intentionally misdiagnosed healthy patients with cancer and gave them unnecessary expensive treatments so he could bill millions from insurance companies, will face a sentencing hearing on Monday. The hearing is expected to run for a week, according to The Detroit News.
A total of 150 former patients and family members of former patients filed victim impact statements with the court. Twenty-five of them will be given a chance to speak during the hearing, and they are each are given 10 minutes to testify.
Fata was arrested in 2013 and pleaded guilty to fraud in September, saying he was aware his patients did not need chemotherapy. According to evidence, he was able to amass millions of dollars from the fraud and at one time expressed interest in a castle in Lebanon worth $3 million, The Guardian reports.
Fata's victims have been waiting for the chance to testify against him in court. One of them, Robert Sobieray, said he has "so much hatred towards Fata" that the mere mention of the doctor's name gives him a headache and makes his stomach turn, NBC News reports.
Fata diagnosed Sobieray with a rare blood cancer in 2010. Sobieray underwent chemotherapy every month and received radiation therapy for three weeks. The treatments were not only expensive but had detrimental effects to his health. His teeth fell out and his body developed uncontrollable twitching movements.
When the doctor was arrested in 2013, Sobieray consulted another doctor and discovered he never had cancer.
Another patient, 68-year-old Steve Skrzypczak, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A mediport was implanted in his chest, and he was also given over 25 chemotherapy treatments within six months, which was four times the amount given to cancer patients in remission.
"I saw two doctors after he was put in jail. Both told me within five to 10 minutes that I never had cancer and I shouldn't have ever been treated for cancer," Skrzypczak said, according to NBC News.
Patients whom Fata intentionally misdiagnosed with terminal ailments also went through deep emotional struggles. Patty Hester was told she had myelodysplastic syndrome. Fata told her she would die either from the cancer or from a secondary infection.
After the diagnosis was given, Hester and her family immediately went to Disney World to create final memories with her loved ones. Her husband fell into depression and began drinking to cope with the despair. Hester, who was never sick, now suffers from hair loss and high blood pressure, according to NBC News.
Authorities say Fata victimized 550 people, The Detroit News reports.
"Whether they were cancer or non-cancer patients, solid tumor or liquid, Fata did not discriminate: his ultimate goal was to maximize his profit on the backs of his patients," federal prosecutors said.
Fata's crimes were discovered in 2013 after his business manager George Karadsheh tipped the FBI of his practice. Karadsheh got his information from Dr. Soe Maunglay, an oncologist who worked at Fata's clinic.
Maunglay found out, seemingly by chance, that Fata had been intentionally tricking people into believing they had cancer and letting them go through expensive treatments when he encountered a patient in one of his rounds at the clinic.
Prosecutors, who are pushing for a sentence of 175 years in prison, said Thursday that Fata was asking a judge for a 25-year sentence, The Detroit News reports in another article.
