VICTIMS LINE UP FOR CANCER DOCTOR'S SENTENCING

Original Story: detroitnews.com

Geraldine Parkin will face cancer doctor Farid Fata in Detroit federal court on Monday morning, as she and 24 other victims or family members of victims prepare to make statements as part of the cancer doctor's sentencing hearing. A Detroit health care lawyer has experience with multiple industry types and implications of detrimental health care practices or incidents.

"For me, I want the pleasure of looking him in the eye," says Parkin, who says her husband, Tim Parkin, is largely disabled as a result of his treatment. Fata once looked into her eyes and those of her adult children, insisting that her husband needed chemotherapy. Now she is ready to respond.

"I want to say to him, 'You gave us a life of the unknown, of misery, and now you're going to have a life behind bars.' "

The hearing, which is expected to last all week, likely will conclude with Judge Paul D. Borman sentencing Fata, who faces life in prison for his crimes. About 150 victims filed victim impact statements with the court. A Detroit medical malpractice lawyer is following this story closely.

Fata's north Oakland County cancer treatment empire collapsed after his arrest two years ago. He pleaded guilty to 16 counts of fraud in September.

But fraud doesn't accurately describe Fata's crimes, victims and former associates say, and victims are being allowed to speak in open court. While that's common in other kinds of criminal trials, it's unusual in a sentencing proceeding for victims of Medicare fraud.

In this case, though, some of Fata's patients were given chemotherapy treatments, some for years, after false or inflated cancer diagnoses by Fata. Many others were treated, and billed for, drugs on schedules designed for profitability rather than therapeutic value. The government has estimated there are at leat 550 people who were victimized by the doctor.

"Whether they were cancer or non-cancer patients, solid tumor or liquid, Fata did not discriminate: his ultimate goal was to maximize his profit on the backs of his patients," federal prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum.

Fata has been compared by government lawyers to financial fraudster Bernard Madoff for the brazen scope of his crimes and his willingness to prey on those who trusted him. At least two expert medical witnesses for the government are scheduled to testify during the sentencing hearing. An expert for the defense who reviewed some of Fata's cases defended the treatment of 17 out of 20 cases — but could not defend the rest. A Detroit negligence lawyer is experienced in the effective resolution of negligence lawsuits as related to improper care or practice in a professional setting.

About 40 members of the victims' group are traveling to the courthouse in a chartered bus, wearing special T-shirts and buttons emblazoned with the slogan "Army of One," united in their quest for justice and their shared experience. Speakers are allotted 10 minutes each to make their statements.

But beyond the hearing, complex issues of compensation for the victims remain. About 40 lawsuits are pending in Oakland County Circuit Court. Borman will hold a restitution hearing at least 90 days after Fata's sentencing to adjudicate the distribution of assets. The government has claimed Medicare is owed $34 million.

In addition to Medicare and former patients, private insurance companies, including Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan, and a former employee turned whistle-blower have a financial stake in the outcome.

Compensation even for the most devastated victims is not clear-cut. Some couldn't file lawsuits because the statute of limitations had expired by the time Fata was arrested, says Donna MacKenzie, of Olsman Mueller Wallace & MacKenzie, a Ferndale law firm handling 13 cases against Fata and his practice. Many others who were harmed were turned away, for various reasons, because of the cost of litigating their claims.

Brian McKeen, who represents other former patients, says Fata's practice was "drastically under-insured" for a total of $3.6 million. Victims say they've been told the government has recovered about $10 million in assets.

"I'm on a mission to make the public realize how heavily the justice system is skewed toward providers and against the plaintiffs, the victims," he said. "Nobody cares about victim's rights until they become a victim."

Fata's arrest was triggered two years ago, on August 2, 2013, when the clinic's practice business manager, George Karadsheh, notified the FBI of Fata's potential crimes. On Aug. 5, 2013, Karadsheh officially filed a so-called qui tam or whistle-blower lawsuit in federal court. The FBI then interviewed Dr. Soe Maunglay, an oncologist at the clinic who had reported his concerns to Karadsheh. Fata was arrested the following morning.

Karadsheh's identity became public June 10, when a Detroit News article named him as the Fata practice insider who first called the FBI. The government subsequently unsealed the lawsuit.

"I've handled a lot of Medicare fraud but this is unspeakable," says David Haron, Karadsheh's lawyer. "Mr. Karadsheh has incredible concern for the patients. He lost his job but they lost so much more."

Parkin, the wife of a victim, knows her family will never regain what they have lost. "For us, the hearing is important because we don't want this to go down in history as fraud," she says. "We want it to go down as murder."

FORMER DMC CHIEF DIES IN PANAMA AMID KICKBACK PROBE

Original Story: freep.com

A former head of the Detroit Medical Center who was later charged in one of the largest fraud and corruption investigations in Canadian history has died in custody in Panama.

Dr. Arthur Porter, 59, CEO of DMC from 1999 through 2003, died Wednesday of cancer while under armed guard in a Panama City hospital. The death was announced by Porter's biographer, Jeff Todd, who said the cause was lung cancer that had spread to the bone and liver.

Before his transfer to the hospital this spring, Porter had been in Panama's La Joya Prison following his 2013 arrest in that country on fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges related to the construction of a $1.3 billion so-called super hospital in Montreal. A Birmingham criminal lawyer is following this story closely.

Porter, who left the DMC to head McGill University's hospital network, was accused of taking as much as $22.5 million in bribes in a kickback scheme for the super hospital's construction contract.

At least seven other individuals also faced criminal charges for the kickback allegations, according to the Montreal Gazette.

The newspaper reported that Porter's extradition to Quebec had been put on hold earlier this year as his lawyer challenged his detention in prison. It does not appear that Porter ever faced trial for the allegations.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs would not comment Wednesday night on any specifics of Porter's case. A Harrisonburg white collar crime lawyer is experienced in the effective resolution of white collar crime lawsuits as related to business related crimes.

A native of Sierra Leone, Porter was a radiation oncology specialist who became CEO of DMC in May 1999, when the then-struggling hospital system was burning through nearly $100 million a year. Although he slashed thousands of jobs, consolidated hospitals and sold off clinics, DMC was still a money-loser by September 2003, when Porter resigned under pressure.

In a memoir released last year that he wrote while in prison, Porter claimed that in 2001, he received a phone call from President George W. Bush offering him the job of U.S. Surgeon General, according to the Montreal Gazette. Porter declined Bush's offer.

Porter left the U.S. in 2004 to become executive director of McGill University's hospital network. In 2008, he was named to a seat on Canada's spy agency watchdog committee, gaining access to Canadian state secrets.

At the time of Porter's arrest in 2013, DMC officials told the Free Press that he was never suspected or accused of any wrongdoing during his years in Detroit. He arrived in Detroit in 1991 as a member of the radiation oncology department at the DMC-affiliated Wayne State University School of Medicine.

"We certainly didn't see any behavior that would have caused us to believe he was involved in improper activities," a former DMC board member, Stephen D'Arcy, said at the time. "It's almost bizarre the kinds of things he was involved in apparently in Canada."

A DMC spokesperson could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

According to Porter's biographer, Porter was forced to smuggle chemotherapy drugs into prison to keep himself alive and, despite repeated letters to the Canadian embassy in Panama for better medical care, wasn't granted access to cancer treatment until this year.

He spent his final days on high doses of morphine for the pain, his biographer wrote in a statement posted online.

The Montreal Gazette reported that Porter's wife pleaded guilty in December to money laundering and was sentenced to two years in prison. A San Francisco corporate lawyer represents clients in corporate criminal charges and corporate finance cases.

In attempts to recover $17.5 million of the $22.5 million that was allegedly defrauded, Quebec authorities have seized properties belonging to Porter and his family in Michigan, Florida and the Caribbean and bank accounts in the U.S. and other countries, the newspaper said.

Colts coach Pagano finishes chemotherapy

Originally appeared in USA Today:

Chuck Pagano's return to the sideline this season remains a real possibility after the Indianapolis Colts head coach concluded a third and final round of chemotherapy Tuesday in his battle with leukemia.

I'm fully supportive, and I have my fingers crossed that he'll be there on the sideline if that's where he wants to be according to IU Health Simon Cancer Center said Tuesday evening.
That conceivably could be the regular-season finale Dec. 30 against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium. The decision will be made jointly by Pagano and the organization.

ULTIMATE ASSIST: Bruce Arians steps up for Colts

According to IU Health Simon Cancer Center things are going well, he's received all of the chemotherapy he was to receive. Now it's just a matter of over the next couple of weeks recovering back to health. He can start conditioning and moving towards what he wants to do, which is return to coaching.

Perhaps as soon as Dec. 30?

The IU Health Simon Cancer Center states medically, (we) think it's very possible, and (we) think the coach will make the decision about how he's feeling and whether he's up to the task, then, the organization will make a decision.

It's feasible. It's possible. Is it definite? No. (we) definitely think that's where we're heading, and we have our fingers crossed that things go well and he's able to do it.

Pagano has been on indefinite leave since being diagnosed with leukemia Sept. 26. He endured three rounds of chemotherapy and felt well enough to attend the last two home games. It was announced Nov. 5 Pagano was in remission.

The IU Health Simon Cancer Center praised his positive approach throughout the process.
He's been amazing in terms of his focus, he's done well enough he's focused on his diet and his conditioning.  He's done very well. But knock on wood. We've still got a couple more weeks to go.

Survival Rate Lengthened by Drug Duo

Story first reported from seattletimes.com

Women with metastatic breast cancer treated with a combination of two estrogen-blocking drugs survived more than six months longer than those treated with just one of the drugs or one followed by the other, according to a study involving nearly 700 women.

It's the first time such improvement in overall survival has been seen in trials of first-line hormonal therapy for hormone-receptive metastatic breast cancer, the study authors said.

"We're finding a lot of other ways of treating these estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers that don't include chemotherapy," said co-author Dr. Julie Gralow, director of breast medical oncology at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

Such hormone-targeting therapy is a key focus in breast-cancer research, in part because it avoids the toxic effects of chemotherapy, Gralow said. However, she cautioned, these first results need to be repeated and verified by other researchers and may only apply to a subgroup of women with this type of breast cancer.

The report, from the University of Michigan-based research group SWOG, one of five cooperative groups that comprise the National Cancer Institute's National Clinical Trials Network, was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The SWOG Statistical Center is based at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; and co-authors also include Dr. William Barlow, professor of biostatistics at the University of Washington.

The two drugs, anastrozole (brand name Arimidex) and fulvestrant (brand name Faslodex), are both called endocrine therapies because they work through action on a hormone — in this case, estrogen. About three-quarters of women with breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer have tumors that are responsive to estrogen, Gralow said. Anastrozole inhibits estrogen synthesis, while fulvestrant works on estrogen receptors.

The combination therapy increased the median survival of the women in the trial by 6.4 months compared with those who took only anastrozole. The combination also lengthened by 1.5 months the time before patients' disease progressed. More than 40 percent of the women in anastrozole-only group switched to fulvestrant when their disease progressed.

Although at this point metastic breast cancer isn't cured with such endocrine therapies, Gralow said researchers are making a lot of progress in this area.

"We're trying to get away from toxic, nonspecific therapies, like chemotherapy, and better understand how we can affect the estrogen receptors and its pathways and get even better results than with chemo, with fewer side effects. That's where we're going in treating breast cancer."

About 700 women with metastatic breast cancer were enrolled in the study. Gralow said she was surprised to find that nearly 40 percent of them had received no treatment for breast cancer before coming in for evaluation of a breast lump and being informed their cancer had already spread.

"When I first saw that I didn't believe it," Gralow said. While such late diagnosis is common in the rest of the world, she said, it's troubling to see so many women from this country whose breast cancer was not caught in the early stages.

"That means there are a lot of those patients out there," she said.

For the study, having such a large percentage of previously untreated patients may mean the results would not hold for women who had received estrogen-blocking drugs in the past, Gralow said. "What the results mostly relate to is a patient who is just starting endocrine therapy for the first time," she said.

For more national and worldwide Business News, visit the Peak News Room blog.

For more local and state of Michigan Business News, visit the Michigan Business News  blog.

For more Health News, visit the Healthcare and Medical News blog.

For more Electronics News, visit the Electronics America blog.

For more Real Estate News, visit the Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.

For more Law News, visit the Nation of Law blog.

For more Advertising News, visit the Advertising, Marketing and Media blog.

For more Environmental News, visit the Environmental Responsibility News blog.

For information on website optimization or for the latest SEO News, visit the SEO Done Right blog.

Doctors Decide to End Certain Cancer Treatments

Story first appeared in the Chicago Tribune.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a move that threatens to further inflame concerns about the rationing of medical care, the nation's leading association of cancer physicians issued a list on Wednesday of five common tests and treatments that doctors should stop offering to cancer patients.  Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Virginia Beach are concerned about the repercussions of such a decision.

The list emerged from a two-year effort, similar to a project other medical specialties are undertaking, to identify procedures that do not help patients live longer or better or that may even be harmful, yet are routinely prescribed.

As much as 30 percent of health-care spending goes to procedures, tests, and hospital stays that do not improve a patient's health, according to a 2008 analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget office.

A task force assembled by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), a group of more than 200 oncologists, released the list from a report in its Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Although the task force emphasized that its recommendations -- winnowed from about 10 suggestions by oncologists -- were driven by medical considerations, the report makes clear that expense was a major factor. A number of cancer drugs cost nearly $100,000 but extend life a few months or not at all. Widely-used imaging tests cost up to $5,000 yet do not benefit patients.

The list has been closely guarded, with public announcements scheduled for Wednesday. Patients, advocacy groups, and policy experts contacted by Reuters were mixed in their reaction to the recommendations.


PATIENTS VS. FINANCIAL INTERESTS

Advocates for cancer patients applauded the recommendations.  However, this could be seen as administration of substandard care by patients and charged as medical malpractice as a Salt Lake Medical Malpractice Lawyer has indicated.

Following the science, however, can lead to conclusions that do not sit well with all patients. A patient, who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer eight years ago and has been in remission since 2007, has already felt the brunt of one of the recommendations: that patients who have been successfully treated for breast cancer and have no symptoms of cancer not undergo CT, PET, other imaging, or bone scans to check for a recurrence or spread of the disease, known as metastasis.

Her insurer, guided by the same kind of studies that served as the basis for the ASCO list, would not cover the scan, citing that it provides no benefit.

ASCO recommends against routine use of four other procedures: chemotherapy for patients with advanced cancers who are unlikely to benefit; advanced imaging technologies such as CT and PET or bone scans to determine the precise stage of both early breast and prostate cancers at low risk for metastasis; and drugs to stimulate white blood cell production in patients receiving chemotherapy if they have a risk of febrile neutropenia, an often-fatal condition marked by fever and abnormally low numbers of certain white blood cells.

The supporting evidence for each recommendation is expected to surprise patients and even some physicians, since these very widely-used tests and treatments have little or no scientific basis, said Schnipper.

WITHHOLDING CHEMOTHERAPY

One recommendation likely to stir controversy, and even revive charges of "death panels," is to not use chemotherapy and other treatments in patients with advanced solid-tumor cancers such as colorectal or lung who are in poor health and did not benefit from previous chemo.

For more on Health and Medical news, follow this blog daily.
Or for more Law related news, follow the Nation of Law blog.