A JUDGE has sentenced a Detroit-area cancer doctor to 45 years in prison for a massive scheme to collect millions from insurance companies while poisoning hundreds of patients through needless treatments that wrecked their health.

US District Judge Paul Borman this week heard stories of brittle bones and fried organs as patients chillingly described the effects of excessive chemotherapy at the hands of Dr. Farid Fata.

“This is a huge, horrific series of criminal acts,” Mr Borman said before announcing the sentence.

Fata forfeited $17.6 million that he collected from Medicare and private insurance companies.

US Attorney Barbara McQuade’s prosecutors asked for 175 years, the maximum.

She said afterwards that the result was “close to a life sentence,” and that she didn’t expect the case to be so egregious when they’d started on it.

“Chemotherapy, as you know, is poison,” Ms McQuade said. “Dr. Fata poisoned people who didn’t even have cancer ... to make money.”

Fata, 50, offered no excuses before getting his punishment.

Stone-faced all week in court, he repeatedly broke down in loud sobs as he begged for mercy on Friday.

“I misused my talents, yes, and permitted this sin to enter me because of power and greed,” Fata said. “My quest for power is self-destructive.”

He said his patients came to him seeking “compassionate care” but “I failed, yes, I failed.”

Fata, 50, pleaded guilty last year to fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. He didn’t strike a deal with prosecutors, so Mr Borman needed much of the week to hear details about treatments.

Patients hired a bus to get to court Monday.

Federal prosecutor Catherine Dick had asked for a 175-year prison sentence. Fata sought 25 years.

The government identified 553 victims, along with insurance companies. Medicare and insurers paid at least $17 million.