Senate hearing on Medicare fraud focuses on Michigan cancer doctor

March 26--WASHINGTON -- A woman who said her Oakland County doctor charged her and Medicare thousands of dollars for unnecessary treatments testified today at a U.S. Senate hearing on efforts to crack down on schemes to defraud the government.

Patricia Gresko, 70, of Romeo, was a patient of Dr. Farid Fata, an Oakland Township oncologist now charged by federal prosecutors with intentionally misdiagnosing patients and ordering unnecessary treatments. Fata has denied the charges.

In her case, Gresko told the Senate Special Committee on Aging that Fata ordered monthly intravenous treatments for her to combat an immune system deficiency he diagnosed. Other doctors later told her the treatments -- which took seven hours each time to administer -- were unnecessary because the antibody her system lacked couldn't be replaced.

"This doctor was personable and dignified, and I trusted him. I thought, like all doctors, he would have my best interests at heart," she said, according to an advance copy of her testimony. "Over the course of seven months, I had paid this doctor over $1,500 in co-pays. I later found out he had received over $14,000 (from Medicare) for giving me these treatments."

Today's hearing was part of a congressional effort to determine how well changes to detect Medicare fraud are working. Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said officials are making great strides, having recovered $19 billion in potentially fraudulent payments in the last five years.

To do so, program changes have been made to place greater scrutiny on certain kinds of services that may be more apt to attract providers engaging in fraudulent behavior. One such change includes placing moratoriums on allowing new providers of certain services to enroll for a time if federal officials believe there could be a problem. One such moratorium on home health services went into effect in metro Detroit earlier this year.

Bettie Hughes, a regional coordinator with the Senior Alliance, a nonprofit organization that provides services to seniors in southern and western Wayne County, also testified that her group's efforts -- and efforts of sister groups -- have helped save more than $100 million nationwide.

The group's Senior Medicare Patrol helps educate Medicare beneficiaries on how to protect themselves against fraud.

She said she herself has seen schemes to charge for unnecessary treatments, MRIs and CAT scans.

"We need to find better ways of identifying who these fraudsters are, and keeping them from marketing their schemes to some of our most vulnerable seniors," she said.

In Fata's case, prosecutors have said he committed fraud in order to enrich himself through government health insurance programs, and over the course of six years, submitted some $225 million in claims. His trial is expected this summer.

Contact Todd Spangler: 703-854-8947 or at [email protected]

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