DETROIT — Detroit physician Dr. Farid Fata stands accused of intentionally misdiagnosing his patients with cancer and administering unnecessary chemotherapy, leaving taxpayers to foot a $35 million bill for false Medicare claims. His lawyer insists that Fata was simply providing the universal care mandated by an obscure provision of President Obama’s 2009 Affordable Care Act.
Fata’s defense rests on an interpretation of Title III, Subtitle B of the controversial law that would compel every American citizen over the age of 18 to undergo cancer treatment, regardless of their medical condition.
“My client was as horrified by Obamacare’s apparent disregard for clinical autonomy as the next oncologist, but as a naturalized citizen since 2009, he felt he had a patriotic duty to uphold his personal understanding of the law,” claimed Topher Andron, Fata’s attorney. “Now, neither Dr. Fata nor I read through all 10,000 pages of the regulations, but the stench of government overreach is unmistakable.”
Andron claims that the government’s seizure of Fata’s medical records and many millions of dollars in personal holdings is “just another example of how the administration’s attempt to centralize records and socialize healthcare hurts doctors who want nothing more than to treat their patients in whatever manner they see fit.”
Fata could be looking at anywhere from 20 years to life in prison if convicted. Andron said those sentences “would effectively silence my client’s common-sense approach to medicine.” Dr. Fata maintains his belief that medical practitioners should enjoy unfettered control over matters of life and death and be able to collect any and all proceeds from these treatments without any government licensure or oversight,” Andron explained.
Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services dismissed the accusations out of hand, furthering speculation of a government cover-up aimed at keeping the public in the dark about such provisions until the law takes full effect.
A mid-level official who wished to remain anonymous told Newslo, “This has got to stop. Seriously. There aren’t any death panels. It’s not a government takeover.”
“Not only has the law already started to reduce the overall costs of healthcare and expand access using a market-based approach,” continued the official, “it takes steps to prevent, detect, and eliminate exactly the type of egregious Medicare fraud and malpractice allegedly committed by Dr. Fata.”
Andron, for one, remains unconvinced by the independent research and Supreme Court ruling supporting the law. “No court has the right to dictate how Dr. Fata chooses to treat the cancer he recently discovered in my pancreas,” Andron told the judge at Fata’s bond hearing. “It’s my life at stake.”
“And my livelihood,” added Fata.
