Tresa Baldas

Detroit Free Press

A college volleyball player. A heartbroken widow. A grieving daughter.

All three women sat in U.S. District Court on Monday, eager to hear the status of restitution payments that they are hoping to receive from notorious cancer doctor Farid Fata, who is serving 45 years in prison for poisoning patients so that he could make money.

"We're here to follow through to the end for what this monster has done," said retiree Patricia Loewen, who blames Fata for her husband's death, claiming the oncologist gave him too much chemotherapy when he didn't need it, and not enough when he did need it. "I know he's fully responsible."

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A restitution plan still has not been finalized in the high-profile case that triggered national headlines. But federal prosecutors say they are a few months away from finalizing a plan that would allow the families of Fata's victims to receive the $12 million to $13 million that the government seized in the case. Of that pot of money, up to $1.8 million could be used to reimburse families for funeral expenses or counseling sessions that were needed because of Fata's actions.

The rest would be turned over to to victims to help cover medical costs and other expenses tied to Fata's treatments, but the government still has to draft a suitable restitution application form and make it publicly available.

U.S. Assistant Prosecutor Catherine Dick said a form could be finalized by June.

Sydney Zaremba, whose mother Helene Zaremba died while under Fata's care, said she may seek reimbursement for some of her mother's funeral expenses. She said her mother had a treatable form of cancer, but that she died prematurely because Fata over-treated her with various medications. She believes the doctor caused too many people both heartache and financial distress, and needs to pay up.

"A lot of people have lost their houses. They lost their livelihood," Zaremba said.

Karlene Foisy, 25, a former college volleyball player and onetime patient of Fata, said she thinks the convicted doctor owes her and others for harming them physically and emotionally. She said that she developed a staph infection while under Fata's care — he was her hematologist — which led to an abscess on her spine that required surgery. She has since had bones cut out of her spine.

"I'm in pain every day," Foisy said.

Fata is appealing his sentence. The once-prominent Oakland County doctor pleaded guilty in September 2014 to intentionally poisoning hundreds of patients through unnecessary treatment and raking in more than $17 million from fraudulent billings. Fata's practices came to light because of a whistle-blower, who received about $1.7 million for his role in exposing the doctor. The majority of the recovered money will go to his victims' families.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com