An oncologist from Michigan was given a 45 year prison sentence for pulling in over 17 million in fraudulent billings for patients he mistreated and misdiagnosed.

The court found Farid Fata had prescribed unnecessary injections and given potent chemotherapy infusions to over 550 patients within a six-year period.  Many of the patients didn’t even have cancer.

Many were grievously injured and had their immune systems permanently damaged.  One man lost both of legs, and died soon after.

Fata kept some patients drugged up for years at a time, bankrupting families having to pay for the medical bills.  He insisted that if they stopped treatment, they would die.  He would also stop receiving their insurance payments.

With all this said, most of Fata’s patients still trusted him.  He was one of the most prestigious oncologists in Michigan.  He received a lot of referrals from other doctors as well.

He was so powerful and admired, few dared to question his practices.

And so he continued for years.

Fata’s story began to unravel when one patient broke her leg.  It was determined this patient didn’t have cancer upon closer examination of her records and she was advised to get a second opinion.

Fata’s story is one in a million.  One attorney called his crimes “the most egregious case of medical fraud in the history of the United States.”

This story stresses the importance of getting a second opinion.

When facing important medical decisions, being well informed is vital as it can potentially have a huge impact on a patients life.  The Patient Advocate Foundation says many physicians would recommend getting one and patients shouldn’t feel they are being unfaithful to their doctor.

Ethical doctors understand that patients have a right to be well informed about their conditions in order to make decisions about their care.  Doctors who don’t welcome second opinions — such as Fata, who openly discouraged them — should be avoided.

“If your physician doesn’t support your getting a second opinion, see how fast you can run,” said Jonathan Schaffer, an orthopedic surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, in U.S. News & World Report.

SecondOpinions.com  provides second opinion consultation services in all areas of medicine, including radiology.  Utilizing the power of the internet, we are connecting patients around the globe with some of the world’s best doctors.  Thanks to our proprietary patent-pending cloud technology, getting a second opinion is now available at your finger tips. We’ve made it possible for anyone to receive a second opinion in the privacy of the home or office. We are staffed with renowned specialists, who are equipped with the latest and most comprehensive technology and data. Our specialists are able to give you the most reliable second opinion as well as keep you up-to-date on groundbreaking developments and research in their fields of expertise.

 An increasing number of Australians are going online to look up medical and health information. Patients are a third more likely to seek a second opinion online than they were 4 years ago.  Since October, 2010 Australians looking for a second opinion or medical advice online has risen to 17.7%

Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research, says:

“Medical practitioners need to be aware that more than 1/6th of patients today are seeking out medical information and second opinions online – and the number is growing fast.”

“It is becoming increasingly efficient to get a second opinion to a diagnosis via telemedicine as more and more services cater to patients seeking an opinion of a specialist that they may not necessarily be able to commute to. Patients can now have their studies looked over from the comfort of their own home and by specialists in all practices, across the world.”

Whether you’ve been given an asthma or cancer diagnosis it can leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused. Navigating the healthcare system has proven to not be easy.

A year and a half ago, Beth Schwart’s mammogram came back clear but she would eventually learn that she actually had stage 4 breast cancer. Beth’s story resonates with people across the world. Leslie Michelson was just 17 years old when his dad was told he needed open heart surgery.

“I called the head of cardiology at a New York academic center and got my dad a second opinion. It turned out that he didn’t need the surgery after all and there was nothing wrong with his heart. My dad lived for close to 40 years after that day and never had any heart problems.”

Michelson points out that most Americans live within one hundred miles of a major city or from an academic medical center that have specialists that take Medicare and most insurance plans.

Telemedicine has grown enormously since Leslie sought a second opinion for his father 40 years ago and the value of a second opinion has grown along with it. As more doctors begin to use business models that allow patients to request same-day telehealth appointments and very fast turnaround times, getting a second opinion has never been easier, more accurate, and more affordable.

SecondOpinions.com is the industry leader in getting a second opinion. It provides a live, fast and straightforward tech support that is available 24 hours a day. The service is easy to use; all you need to do is create an account, complete a questionnaire, and schedule a phone call or video chat with a board-certified physician.

A primary care physician consults with an orthopedic specialist affiliated with secondopinions.com via telemedicine.

In this example a patient presents to their primary care physician with a severely broken ankle. The break is complex and the patient is young, so the doctor wants to consult with an orthopedic specialist for a second opinion before reducing the fracture.

Telemedicine provides an immediate interactive platform that connects the primary
care physician with the second opinion specialist.  Sharing the screen, the doctors view medical records and diagnostic images, annotate areas of interest and arrive at a consensus for treatment.

The combination of second opinions coupled with a real-time video-conferencing , an interactive multimedia whiteboard and diagnostic image viewer allows for an unprecedented level of professional collaboration and rapid turnaround, resulting in a highly favorable outcome.

Based on new a new study by an international research team, spearheaded by Professor Lukas Kenner from the Medical University of Vienna, the Veterinary University of Vienna, and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institiute for Cancer Research (LBI-CR); a gene that is normally responsible for the growth of cancer plays an unexpected role in prostate cancer. The gene known as Stat3 is managed by the immune modulator interleukin 6 and typically progresses the growth of cancer cells. The international team has since discovered the missing puzzle piece that helps layout the pivotal role Stat3 and IL-6 signalling play in prostate cancer progression and development. The study received its funding from LBI-CR and the FWF. While results of the study have recently published in the renowned scientific journal, Nature Communications. Continue reading →

Based on new research collected and released by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, diabetes patients who take glitazone antidiabetes drugs, whether it was rosiglitazone or pioglitazone, saw a 28 percent reduction in the likelihood of contracting Parkinson’s disease as opposed to those taking differing antidiabetic treatments. The study has since been published in PLOS Medicine. Continue reading →