Feds Raid Home, Rochester Hills Office of Cancer Doctor

A cancer doctor working in Rochester Hills is in federal custody on charges of health care fraud, according to clickondetroit.com.

According to the report, the FBI is executing search warrants at Farid Fata's home on the 2600 block of Forest Glen Court in Oakland Township, as well as at medical facilities where he has worked, including an office in Rochester Hills.

Fata founded Michigan Hematology Oncology, P.C., a cancer care center that has a location at 1688 Star Batt Drive in Rochester Hills. A previous location was listed at the Crittenton Cancer Center, 1901 Star Batt Drive. According to FBI records, that location later served as United Diagnostics PLLC, and most recently Vital Pharmacare LLC, both operated by Fata. The facility previously had an address listed at 543 N. Main St. in Rochester.

A complaint by the U.S. District Court alleges Fata defrauded Medicare by submitting false claims for services that were medically unnecessary, including chemotherapy treatments, PET scans and a variety of cancer and hematology treatments for patients who did not need them.

According to the complaint, Fata began Michigan Hematology Oncology, P.C., in 2005. According to the office's website, there also are locations in Troy, Bloomfield Hills, Sterling Heights, Clarkston, Lapeer and Oak Park. The office's website also lists Crittenton Hospital in Rochester, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Lapeer Regional Medical Center in Lapeer, Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital in Pontiac and Doctor's Hospital in Pontiac as Fata's hospital affiliations.

The complaint alleges Fata administered chemotherapy unnecessarily to patients who were in remission, deliberately misdiagnosed patients as having cancer to justify unnecessary cancer treatment, administered chemotherapy to end-of-life patients who will not benefit from the treatment, deliberately misdiagnosed patients without cancer to justify expensive testing, fabricated other diagnoses such as anemia and fatigue to justify unnecessary hematology treatments and unnecessarily distributed controlled substances to patients.

The complaint alleges Fata administered chemotherapy to patients who had other serious medical conditions that required immediate treatment before being permitted to go to the hospital.

In one case, the complaint alleges, a man fell down and hit his head when he came to one of Fata's offices. The complaint alleges Fata ordered the man to undergo chemotherapy before he could be taken to the emergency room. The man later died from the head injury. In another case, the complaint alleges a patient came into one of Fata's offices with low sodium levels, which could be fatal. The complaint alleges Fata again ordered a chemotherapy treatment before the patient could be taken to the emergency room.

An oncologist cited in the complaint, who was not identified by name, told FBI officials the drugs allegedly administered by Fata were toxic, administered at dangerous levels and could lead to death.

According to the complaint, Fata has been working out of his Rochester Hills office three days per week, and he has split the remainder of each week at his Bloomfield Hills and Clarkston offices.

When reached Tuesday afternoon, officials at the FBI's Detroit bureau declined further comment, stating the investigation is ongoing.