A couple years ago I reported on an immigrant physician who had been charged with malpractice and making millions of dollars in Medicare cash by misdiagnosing: Scammer Lebanese Doctor Is Accused of Deaths and Medicare Fraud . In the face of more than 500 patients swearing he had treated them to make maximum money rather than cure their ailments (if any existed), Dr. Farid Fata (pictured below) admitted his crimes. Some patients died from unnecessary or incorrect treatments chosen for top profitability. Fata poisoned people for money.

He must have been one of those “hard-working” immigrants we hear praised so much. How else could he have mooched $35 million via Medicare fraud over two years?

Some immigrant doctors are unduly attracted to the riches available to them when they act as wolves among sheep. Physicians are respected perhaps too much in American society, and the unscrupulous can make out like bandits. (See Top Medicare Ripoff Doc Is Dominican.) Do foreign doctors see us as sheep to be fleeced because Americans are a different tribe? The hard-wired tribal urge of humans cannot be dismissed here, along with greed of course.

In the present case, around 150 victims filed impact statements with the court. The judge allowed two dozen former patients to testify as part of the sentencing process.

The stories were pretty awful:

Some of the victims didn’t think a 45-year sentence was enough for all the pain Fata had caused to so many.

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It’s always a good idea to get a second medical opinion for a major illness — double that with a non-American doctor who may only be here for the money.