DETROIT, MI -- Maggie Dorsey could comb her daughter's hair before she met Dr. Farid Fata.

She lost that ability after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma and undergoing intense chemotherapy under Fata's care.

But she never actually had multiple myeloma.

"Even though I am not dead, I am a shadow of my former self," Dorsey said in a tearful, but fiery statement read in Detroit federal court Tuesday.

"Before chemotherapy, I was able to cook, clean, function in every capacity... I was able to write, type, comb my hair, as well as my daughter's hair... I stopped being able to comb my daughters hair when she needed me most."

The harsh, medically unnecessary drug treatments left her with chronic pain, weakness and tremors, barred from using metal silverware to eat and on some days, unable to stand.

"My children have had to grow up fast. My husband has had to take care of the bills, the kids and me... The entire dynamic of our relationship changed, including the innermost, intimate parts."

After breaking down with emotion, her daughter, Morgan Saunders, finished reading her statement.

"It still brings me to tears when my family goes out and I have to stay home alone," she said on her mother's behalf.

Dorsey, of Rochester Hills, led a group of 20 people who addressed the court Tuesday, asking U.S. District Judge Paul Borman to sentence the disgraced oncologist to life prison.

Fata pleaded guilty in September 2014 to 13 counts of health care fraud, two money laundering counts and one count of conspiracy to pay or receive kickbacks.

He was accused of boosting billings by putting hundreds of people through harmful and unnecessary cancer treatments in which patients were terminal, in remission or misdiagnosed.

The Oakland County doctor and his lawyers concede that there was mistreatment of some form in 553 different cases.

But defense lawyers denied some of the accusations made by victims and their relatives in court Tuesday, including those hurled at the doctor by Laura Stedtfeld, who took the stand, turned toward Fata, demanded he look at her and directly accused him of murdering her father, Piero Zanotti, who died in 2014.

"Farid Fata: I hate you. You are repulsive. You disgust me. You are a monster. You are evil," she said.

"Clearly you are a coward because you can't even look at me right now. You murdered my dad. You poisoned, tortured and murdered my dad."

It was one of the few times during the hearing Fata broke from his stoic demeanor, tensing slightly and briefly turning to face Stedtfeld.

Zanotti was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010 and died in 2014.

Fata ordered chemotherapy every other week for an extraordinarily long period of three years, Stedtfeld said.

"You gave him such horrible chemo that he lost his hair over night. Every hair on his body," Stedtfeld said. "... This went on for three years... His bones were brittle. He broke his hip simply from pushing himself up off the couch... He couldn't control his bodily functions. My dad would tell us 'Look at me. What kind of man am I? We would tell him 'You're our man.

"You, Fata had dollar signs for pupils when you saw him. You told him 'Piero, you are a very strong man.' I only wish we knew what you really meant... There was only one doctor in your practice who told us to stop chemo... We found it confusing and we didn't listen... We trusted you."

Borman on Monday rejected a request from defense attorneys to strike victim statements that included accusations in which Fata has not admitted guilt.

"He was a patient that had stage-4 lung cancer, which had metastasized and nobody could cure it," said defense attorney Mark Kriger about Zanotti. "... Not everything in these horribly powerful impact statements is, in our opinion, accurate."

Borman chose to admit all the statements and decide later which to consider and which to cast aside when he decides on a sentence.

"It's my job to follow the law and to rely on what I feel is appropriate and to not rely on what I feel is not appropriate," Borman said.

Prosecutors have asked Borman to sentence Fata to 175 years in federal prison.

Fata's lawyer has asked for 25 years.

The government has also asked Borman to order the doctor to pay back $17.6 million paid by Medicare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan for fraudulent treatments. The figure doesn't include patient co-pays coinsurance contributions, according to court documents.

A decision is likely to come by Friday.

An oncology expert is scheduled to take the witness stand Wednesday before Borman issues a sentence.

Fata was arrested in August 2013 and has since been kept behind bars.