New Mexico patients may be alarmed to learn that on July 10, a Michigan doctor was sentenced to what could be life in prison for malpractice. According to the report, he was convicted for inflicting painful cancer treatments on a number of patients, many of whom did not actually have the disease.
The doctor pleaded guilty to numerous criminal charges in September 2014 after he was accused of scamming more than 500 patients. He reportedly told numerous individuals that they had cancer when in reality they did not. He then performed chemotherapy on patients who did not have cancer as well as those who no longer needed treatments.
The former patients and their family members wore yellow during the sentencing in a veiled reference to it being the last day that the former doctor would see the sun. He was ultimately sentenced to 45 years in prison after an hour of deliberation. However, many of the patients and family members were not happy with the decision as they had wished for a longer sentence. The doctor’s attorneys requested a prison sentence of 25 years. Some of the patients reportedly intended to file civil lawsuits against the doctor in order to seek compensation.
When a doctor puts patients’ lives at risk by not following proper procedures or by purposefully misdiagnosing disorders, victims may potentially file a medical negligence claim against the practitioner. Damages often sought include the costs of any required medical treatment, lost wages and pain and suffering. An attorney may assist by demonstrating that the physician failed to exercise the required standard of care.
Source: NBC News, “Farid Fata Gets 45 Years in Prison for Scamming Hundreds of Cancer Patients,” Kathryn Na Thanson and Jon Schuppe, July 10, 2015
