Horrified by what she sees, she reports the doctor for committing an unthinkable form of Medicare fraud.
Sometimes that fraud is much more costly.
You and your body have been used to steal Medicare payments.
Today weve dug into the archives to bring back a 3-part series called Dr. Rotten.
Its a story so important we think its worth sharing again.
Many things just arent right.
Will Johnson is your host on this story.
(MUSIC SEGUE)
[00:01:12] Will Johnson: Greed is at the heart of scams.
It’s the primary motivation.
When it comes to health insurance scams and Medicare fraud, the story is no different.
And Medicare fraud in the United States is a multi-billion-dollar problem.
The scope of this scam is staggering.
We’ve never encountered a scam that was so heartless and affected so many people.
Not just the amount of money, but the impact on the lives of victims and their families.
It’s a story of false hope and dire consequences and lives hanging in the balance.
[00:02:04] Always question stuff.
Question everything they do for you.
[00:02:09] Your life, as you know it, is over.
This is going to change your life for the next couple of years.
How much would we put on the line?
I looked at the center as a burning building.
[00:02:51] Will Johnson: Angela Swantek has been an oncology nurse for 27 years.
She fell into oncology early on in her nursing career and over time she came to love the work.
You do it because it’s a calling.
[00:03:09] Will Johnson: In March 2010, Angela was looking for a new job.
The large and thriving practice was run by a well-known cancer physician, Dr. Farid Fata.
Before going in, she asked a few of her colleagues about Dr. Fata and the office.
[00:03:36] Angela Swantek: Every single one of them made like this grimace.
And I said, okay, well what does that mean?
They said, “I don’t know, there’s just something fishy about him.”
At the end of the day, briefly, she met the man in charge, Dr. Farid Fata.
He’s well-groomed and professional looking, dressed in his usual attire of a white lab coat.
He’s not tall, under 6 feet in his 40s.
[00:04:04] Angela Swantek: I didn’t have much of an impression with him.
He was impressed with where I worked because where I worked the doctors were pretty reputable.
So, she asked if she could come back in and job shadow for a few hours before accepting.
And the guidelines for chemotherapy specify that those yellow buckets are supposed to be next to every single chair.
And Claire said, “Yeah, it’s no big deal.”
“Well, you know, that’s, that how we do it.”
That was her reason for everything.
[00:05:50] Angela Swantek: And then she grabbed a Sharpie and started numbering the labels.
And I looked at her, and I said, “Why are you numbering the labels?”
Um, but she never did.
It was like she was completely oblivious.
[00:06:45] Angela Swantek: Oh, no, no.
Um, so that was you know like strike number two.
[00:06:52] Will Johnson: Strike number three comes a few minutes later.
[00:06:55] Angela Swantek: And then she, she grabbed this medicine called Neulasta.
And Neulasta is an injection that’s given 24 hours after the completion of chemotherapy.
And I said, “Well, who’s that shot for?”
And she said, “Well that’s for the patient.”
And I said, “Well that’s not how that’s supposed to be given.”
And she argued with me, “Yes, it is.”
And we were like two 2-year-olds.
“No it isn’t.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No it isn’t.”
So strike number three.
So in my mind I’m already thinking there is no way that I’m going to work here.
But I stayed because I’m thinking, what the heck are they doing here?
[00:07:49] Will Johnson: You’re like curious and probably kind of shocked, right?
[00:07:53] Angela Swantek: Oh, yes.
So this was my first time like being in the actual infusion room where patients are.
So Velcade is um, a chemotherapy drug that’s used to treat multiple myeloma.
And the dose is um, like 2, 2 ccs.
It’s just a quick push.
“Well we don’t push any drugs here.”
I’m like, “What do you mean you don’t push any drugs here?”
I said, “This is 3 to 5 second push.”
[00:09:46] Angela Swantek: Exactly.
[00:09:47] Will Johnson: What kind of impact or effect could this have on a patient?
[00:09:50] Angela Swantek: It completely changes the whole mechanism of action of that drug.
[00:10:23] Will Johnson: What was your feeling at the time when you had that aha moment?
Can you describe how it, how you felt?
Like is, is it like a pit in your stomach or is your heart racing?
So, this is what was transpiring on a daily basis at that office.
[00:10:55] Angela Swantek: It is a horror, it is, it is a horror story.
It was like a horror movie.
[00:10:59] Will Johnson: But Angela still hadn’t seen the end of it.
And I asked, said to Claire, “Why is that Adriamycin in a bag?”
Well again, “We don’t push anything here.”
How were you feeling?
[00:12:03] Angela Swantek: Um, I got in my car and I started sobbing.
And I, you know, I was in a situation that I had never been in before.
[00:12:30] Will Johnson: Angela says she did the next best thing.
She goes home and Googles “How to turn in a physician.”
She’s not wasting any time.
[00:12:38] Angela Swantek: I stated twice in my um, allegation that he was harming patients.
Someone she hasn’t even worked for.
I mean it was, what he was doing was just awful.
[00:13:49] Will Johnson: Angela’s allegations are serious and potentially career-ending for Dr. Farid Fata.
She puts the letter in the mail on the 1st of April 2010.
And she waits and waits some more.
It wasn’t until May 2011, over a year later, that she heard back from the state.
[00:14:38] Will Johnson: What Angela saw at Dr. Fata’s office rocked her to the core.
She stayed at her current job but made no secret about the fact that she made allegations.
She talked about it with friends, family, and colleagues.
Eventually Angela takes another job closer to home.
Angela never saw Fata in person again.
The case was closed, or so it seemed.
One of them was Robert Soberay.
He got checked out and was diagnosed with three slipped discs.
[00:15:28] Robert: The doctor says, “We need this surgery.”
Well, they did that and about two months later I was worse off than when I started.
I just, I was sick, I didn’t, could not do anything.
I couldn’t walk.
I was so sore it just killed me to get out of bed.
[00:16:08] Robert: Cancer.
He thought, you know thought maybe cancer, first thing.
That’s what he said, he thought it was cancer.
He goes, “If there’s bone missing, you almost, it’s not looking right.”
He goes, “There’s gotta be cancer.”
[00:16:17] Will Johnson: So Fata* met with Dr. Farid Fata at his busy cancer clinic.
He immediately liked him and felt he was in good hands.
[00:16:47] Robert: Yes.
Bone marrow biopsy."
It was, the bone marrow, it was worse than surgery.
And uh, he got that.
[00:17:16] Will Johnson: You were due for another injection of what?
[00:17:19] Robert: He was giving me Zometa.
[00:17:21] Will Johnson: Okay, and what was that for?
[00:17:23] Robert: Uh, bone cancer, or blood, blood cancer.
[00:17:27] Will Johnson: So he had already diagnosed you with cancer?
[00:17:35] Will Johnson: So he immediately put you on some key in of chemotherapy.
[00:17:50] Robert: Oh yeah, yeah.
[00:18:01] Will Johnson: What was that like?
I mean can you describe the experience?
She went to everything.
You know I’m, I’m at loss.
I don’t know what to do.
And she looked at me and just kind of start crying.
You know, and she tried to hold it in.
She finally got her composure.
I uh got my (inaudible), I just went numb.
So Robert waits another week and goes back for the results.
It’s a, called multiple myeloma."
I was, “Okay, what’s that entail?”
[00:19:14] Will Johnson: Robert is also given morphine for pain.
Starts a three-week cycle of radiation treatments.
[00:19:19] Robert: Oh, it, it was terrible.
She goes, “I’ll inform Dr. And I goes, “I ain’t coming back.
Fata told him without taking anything he might have six months to a year to live.
With the meds he could live for years.
Insurance ran out and before they could get new insurance, he was paying out of pocket for medicines.
[00:20:04] Robert: And so, I had to buy my own Zometa.
[00:20:06] Will Johnson: Which is expensive.
And then the morphine and everything else.
It was, it was running the bills.
We ran our credit cards up and everything else.
We ran out of money.
[00:20:30] Will Johnson: So over 212, 212 years you were taking heavy-duty cancer medication.
[00:20:36] Robert: Right.
[00:20:37] Will Johnson: In the form of a shot a month.
[00:20:38] Robert: Right.
Well it’s a, a drip fluid.
It was half hour to an hour every time sitting in a chair.
Plus he had two rooms on the side for special patients and that, and it was always full.
[00:21:00] Will Johnson: And did you, would you continue to see him regularly as well?
[00:21:04] Robert: Yeah.
[00:21:09] Will Johnson: And over time are you getting better?
[00:21:12] Robert: Oh no, I was getting worse.
[00:21:21] Robert: My teeth were getting bad.
I mean they hurt.
So when I talked to him about it, he goes, “Oh no, not me.
It nothing to do with me.”
I had a tooth up on top come out with the whole socket and all.
So I had a hole in my gum.
Then I started getting pains in my legs.
Go see your doctor.”
I went to see my doc and doc says, “There’s something wrong.”
Many thanks to our producers Julie Getz and Brook Ellis.
And of course, audio engineer Julio Gonzales.
Be sure to find us on Apple podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For The Perfect Scam, I’m Will Johnson.
