DETROIT – Impact statements have been released for the victims of Dr. Farid Fata, an oncologist accused of issuing unnecessary cancer treatment to patients who didn't have cancer or had no chance to beat it.
Authorities included 26 pages of excerpts from victim impact statements with their sentencing memo.
Federal officials say Fata scammed Medicare and BCBS alone out of $17 million. So far, over 550 victims have been identified.
Prosecutors are asking for Fata to be sentenced to 175 years in prison, even if sentencing guidelines don't put him at a life sentence.
Fata pleaded guilty last September to multiple counts of fraudulent billing, participating in a kickback scheme and money laundering.
But those charges pale in comparison to the suffering described by victims in an 86-page memorandum filed in U.S. District Court this week. Fata is accused of ordering at least 9.000 unnecessary infusions or injections and performing chemotherapy on people who did not have cancer.
The memorandum also describes Fata as treating cancer patients until they died, leaving them without a chance to enjoy the final days of their lives. Nurses and social workers reported that he told patients they had a 70 percent chance to beat cancer, even if the chances were much lower.
An email from Fata is included in the memorandum. "I am concerned how come this patient had a balance of 51,000 $ since 2011," the email reads. It's signed, "I need my money ! Dr. Fata."
The impact statements include stories from victims and their loved ones, detailing what happened to them during treatment from Fata. Many victims talked about specific interactions they had with Fata and the medical hardships they've suffered since.
Many say they spend the entirety of their lives in near unbearable pain.
You can read the victim impact statement excerpts by clicking here.