and if we succeeded and they are ife and have a memory of a good childhood, then we were successful at being parents. successful at being parents. y una bella niez, gracias por vernos. transplant. >> i told me i was terminal and i was going to die. >> he had an impressive resume.reputation. >> people said, he is the best cancer doctor out there. >> behind these closed doors, a deadly secret. he has absolutely nothing wrong with him. >> healthy patients treated with toxic chemotherapy for cancers ve. >> he said, you need to start this drug immediately. or you will die. >> could you have ever imagined e this?

his patients never had a chance. never had a chance. harm. welcome to "dateline." i'm lester holt. , the disease is the enemy. in this story, the enemy was the doctor. of victims, millions in profits. it was as common as a broken leg that helped break open one of the biggest medical crimes in e country. three little words. you have cancer. >> he told me that i was hat i was going to die. >> you cling to family, close friends and your doctors. the people you trust.scared. >> in one unprecedented case, that cancer diagnosis came with ist. >> he almost took my husband and then he almost took my best friend.

inside a web of lies that took expose. >> this is the most egregious case of fraud i have seen in my life and i'm aware of in the entire country.t have been stopped sooner before so many were hurt? >> how can somebody miss the red flag?understand. >> you would never guess that 54-year-old monica flag had any s. fair to say you had an active >> we were busy. we were very active.aveling. >> a lot of fun. >> even with her busy life, monica says she always took good take me back to the spring and summer of 2012. yo had you blood work done. tell me about that. >> i do my annual physical every year.o my health. i had gone back to my primary

for about three years she had my protein in my blood. >> elevated m protein level can in rare cases develop into cancer.w what? i think you need to go see one around and find out what's going on. let's get a professional opinion from a hematologyist. >> that's when monica went to a renounced doctor who specialized in blood cancers.chigan hematology oncology. >> here he is in a promotional video for his clinic. >> i received my medical at the memorial sloan-kettering cancer center in new york. >> he was very highly recommended in the community. >> you were told this was the best. >> absolutely.lked to several people. people said, he is the best cancer doctor out there.ve but very good.

docs in detroit.as one stop shopping. he owned his own testing lab, iation treatment facility. on monica's first visit to his ed with smoldering myeloma, a pre-cancerous condition that could turn into full blown cancer.t have taken your breath away. >> it was awful. >> suddenly, this is a serious illness. >> correct. >> he told her his approach ssive. she would be closely monitoring with blood tests and painful bone marrow biopsies.few months, monica spent hours and hours at the clinic hooked up to iv drips, ers to keep the cancer at bay. >> it was a real big lifestyle change.octor that

>> luckily, monica had excellent would cover most of the bills. which quickly started adding up to tens of thousands of dollars nths. monica had been assured that with this doctor, she was getting the best care money could buy.lt that in a sense it was doing god's work. he was doing god's work.s the doctor's office manager and worked on the business side of the practice at the main clinic.lings, artwork, grand piano. i thought to myself, oncology bought all of this?ession was this is an incredibly successful guy. >> incredibly.ly. i really wondered you know how did he it. ritzy suburb of detroit. he ran multiple clinics and

1,000 patients.e had to wait hours to see the busy doctor. what was your impression?icult to understand. he was very soft spoken.peatedly to explain. >> monica was frustrated enough to go back to her primary care physician to talk about getting on. >> she convinced me that he is the best there is.es to see the doctor. after about eight months, he gave her some difficult news.ition was no longer smolder smoldering. >> he was sitting almost as close as you and said, you now n multiple myeloma. this is what you have to do. >> we need to treat is what he said. >> how did you react to that? it's frightening. scared. >> multiple myeloma is a cancer

would try to keep her alive with a lifetime regimen of can cause irreversible side effects. sadly, we know people who have gone through chemotherapy.ou were going to not only need co-mow chemotherapy but nor your for your lifetime, how did you process that? >> it brought back a lot of -- i have a sister that had breast cancer. and the horror that she had to gh. and then i had a brother die of lung cancer.what chemotherapy was like. >> i knew what was in store. absolutely. >> with those three words, you he prepared to start chemotherapy, putting her

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blood cancer.myeloma. >> steve asked him at one point,? and he said, you need to start this drug immediately. >> or? >> or you will die. >> he said you would die? >> absolutely.e starting chemotherapy, monica and her husband steve booked a vacation to costa rica.away and regroup and start our life of cancer. >> how was that trip? >> fabulous. >> wonderful.t. >> in the back of your mind, this was, we get back, here we go, i'm going to be on chemo, for cancer? >> lifetime. rag frustrations with dr. fata. she decided to stick with him. after all, he was considered thector in michigan. and very hands on.

went to great lengths to ensure everything was done his way. >> he had cameras and nes in the ceiling and walls. would periodically review that to ensure people were in the ng the right things. >> wait a minute. a lot of businesses have cameras.s so you don't steal stuff. you are saying in this practice there were cameras to keep an eye on what people were doing? >> yes.d that unusual? >> well, i did find it unusual. but myself and a lot of others ught it was something that he required because he was the kind of person that was very controlling.direction of dr. fata that monica was given her first dose of chemotherapy 3. a nurse delivered the cocktail of chemo drugs and sent her home

>> i was sad. i was frustrated. >> when you went home?tional for steve and i. >> given what she had seep her n her family members go through, cing herself for the side effects to take hold. something unexpected happened.her suitcase still out from the vacation to n two places. >> when i fell, i then heard snap, snap.are thinking, oh, no, now this? >> yeah. i remember at the hospital i hemotherapy in the morning and have to deal with this, it was hobble. it was hobble.a short vacation to his home country of lebanon. who worked in his clinics, was

practice's cancer patients.i met the doctor, he explained to me who he was. >> he didn't usually treat aw dr. fata.r seen monica's medical reports sgle look s s before. >> i found it strange. >> because he had been puzzling arts. confused by the results of her blood work. >> just looking at the chart, i could not believe what i was seeing.tion in front of him just wasn't making sense.a a series of questions. and then -- sglt >> the next day i went to the ll the -- everything that was scanned in

>> staring at monica's records, to an unnerving but inis scape inescapable conclusion. he went back to the hospital and lieved about her cancer was wrong. did he say the words, you don't have cancer? >> yes. yes. he told me, do you not have cancer. e how good you'll feel with the new weight watchers beyond the scale program! join for free now 10 pounds on us. working on my feet all day gave me pain here. in my lower backhis machine and get my number pwhich matches my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic inserts. now i get immediate relief from my foot pain.in.

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the shock of her life. after beginning chemotherapy forcondition, she was told she did not have cancer. i think about that moment when ke to have someone tell you you don't have cancer. i mean, you want to shout it to the world? >> i did. i called everybody i knew. it was. i was extremely happy. but i had a lot of anger. because this young doctor also seemed to be telling her that her misdiagnosis was no innocent mistake.g her charts, he concluded that dr. fata had been

make a decision on a busy ke a mistake. but this patient has been followed for a long time. u need to find a new doctor. i will help you get your records. e dr. fata again. >> why was he so suspicious of his boss? it turns out, he had questions ssive treatments style for months. he says he saw dr. fata giving o were far too frail for the treatment. >> i always felt like, you know, some of the patients are too old, getting ing ting are getting chemotherapy and are too sick. he wasy. >> he thought he was overtreating many patients.ase appeared to be more egregious. her treatment was completely unnecessary.

decided to resign.idea of publically criticizing such a highly regarded doctor seemed like career suicide. >> why would anybody believe me? >> he had no idea that he was not the first medical professional to have suspicions about dr. fata.est concern were for those patients. back in 2010, angela swantek, an oncology nurse was shadowing one of fata's nurses. tell me what that day was ow it went. >> that was the first time i got a glimpse of the infusion.g stacked right next to each other. there was really no room for a with them. >> as she watched the nurses work, she says she immediately ugs being administered the wrong way.

the patients that were sitting think there were one that was getting anything appropriate. >> she says patients were getting drugs at higher doses time periods than she believed was medically necessary. and she was worried about the r health. to be clear, the things that you observed, are these things that are just unusualwrong? >> they are plain wrong. plain old wrong. >> you are not supposed to do them that way? >> no. no. with chemotherapy. it has a specific route over a specific time. >> angela turnedft as quickly as she could. when you left that office that day, you are driving off, what are you thinking?fied. sitting in the parking lot, i remember getting into my car and horrible care that they are receiving. >> she never saw any patient

but came to her own conclusion at was behind dr. fata's treatment plan. >> so i thought to myself, oh, my gosh, i know exactly what he is doing.these patients in insurance company for more money. >> you summed that up -- utes. >> now three years later, this doctor was thinking the same thing.r diagnosis looked like part of a scheme to bilk patients and insurance companies.ould have cost close to $200,000 a year. >> she was a 50-year-old, a ho is healthy, most likely has good insurance. so dr. fata would have given ntil she died, maybe one decade. unnecessary treatment.you know, for a reason.

allegations when the office ger came to ask about his impending departure from the practice. >> i asked him why. and he said, i will tell you but not here.hallway. dr. fata has a camera. >> they went downstairs to a room where they were sure no oneor recording. the doctor told george dr. fata was giving chemotherapy to a ave cancer. >> i didn't believe him, because quite frankly, i knew of all of were involved inpatients. >> surely, somebody would have said something. >> somebody should have said something. is doctor with a wild story. >> wild story. this is left field stuff. >> you are not buying it. >> i'm not buying it. i thought he was trying to get tract. >> it was a few days later, thinking about all of the practitioners made over the time that i had been there. >> george has no medical

unusually aggressive treatment was sometimes a point of conflict in the office., i don't necessarily agree we should have given this injection or doctors saying, i don't really feel comfortable with the treatment fata has. >> suddenly, all these little conversations come back to mind. >> these conversations come to mind.hink maybe, maybe the doctor has something. >> george decided to find out more. he spoke to a nurse in the office who said she had recentlyed dr. fata about giving one particular drug to patients who didn't need it. he then made copies of all the records and took them to an attorney who was an expert in whistle-blower cases., they tipped off the office of the u.s. attorney for the eastern district of michigan. >> i remember the case came in n. we had just accepted a tip from a whistle-blower there was a doctor who was prescribing chemotherapy for patients who

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ne in this room has a story to tell about the once esteemed cancer doctor dr. fata.lete trust in him. >> what i would say, it's gotta she would say, she's going to die. l, right next to dr. fata's clinic, former patients and their loved d support to one another. i met with 25 of them who came ries. some were sick but were grossly overtreated while others like ever had cancer at all. including this woman. >> when i got the diagnosis, my world was shattered. t was terminal. >> i told me i was terminal and that i was going to die.cancer either. >> then you find out you don't have cancer. the doctor told me i didn't have cancer.i was happy but my

what i went through. >> tracy's husband had a ndition that didn't require aggressive treatment. but dr. fata gave him chemo for seven years.red horrible side effects. >> your husband david's quality of life was robbed. >> yes. he just could not heal.tion. >> his immune system was breaking down. >> his immune system was gone. he ended up losing both of his legs.usband passed away last spring. >> he was being poisoned. i don't think he had a chance.was with fata. >> this woman's mother was treated too aggressively. she died within a few months of ta. >> i look at my mom's picture every day and i have a picture to apologize to.r goes away, even though i know it wasn't my fault. my sister knows it wasn't her

but it never goes away.. >> this man almost died of heart failure as a result of excessive chemo.nt close to two weeks in icu and isolation. i had my heart stopped and times. i mean, it was -- my sis ystem was l to the over chemo -- the poisoning of the amount of chemo. >> like chris, many of the are still dealing with lasting consequences of the unnecessary drugs.my teeth, all but one now. i'm still trying to figure out how to pay for it. everything is falling apart on me.nother patient who never had cancer. >> i had to have a live transplant. >> as a result of the chemo?e chemo. now i'm taking an enormous

taken in by dr. fata's credentials and what they thought was an impressive work ethic.pital at 6:00 in the morning. he was at the hospital at midnight. now i know why. could cover for him. now it all makes sense. >> same business model for going to maximize his dollar amount out of everybody. >> going to treat you aggressively. treatment, you will die. >> interesting, he diagnosed you all with cancer of the kind thatp a c.a.t. scan and say there's a tumor. the kind you couldn't see for yourself with your own eyes. it was really a matter of absolute trust. >> yes. patients have even more reason to be frustrated. dr. fata it turns out could havearlier. >> you called it a chemo mill. what did you mean by that? >> just the volume. in, get them in, get them in and get

oncology nurse spent her morning in dr. fata's clinic for that job inteified. but she did not go quietly. even though she had no idea some of fata's patients didn't even he sent a formal complaint about what she saw to michigan's health department. you cut to the chase. >> i listed specific drugs. i said patients were being harmed and that the physician arm than good. i even put, you know, he needs to be investigated by medicare and blue cross blue shield. also urgent. here. you assume you heard from the state right away.n't. >> you didn't get a call. >> no, no phone call, no follow-up. >> nobody interviewed you. rviewed me. >> nothing.

what was that communication? >> the very first sentence was sometime ago you filed an inst the above named physician. we did a thorough investigation e of the violation of the public health code. so the case is closed. thank you. sorry.s that followed, angela's 2010 complaint, dr. fata's practice grew by leaps and bounds.u saw or had interactions with dr. fata since 2010?of you. >> i would question how many people are alive that saw him before 2010.ears later, after monica's broken leg, her chance encounter at the hospital and a tip from the office manager, utors were finally on the case.

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after investigators were tipped off by whistle-blower os the prosecutor's office wasted in time in trying to get to the bottom of what had been e dr. fata's cancer clinic.

country.wed files and tried to make sense of his strategy with treating each patient, each time we looked at that made sense was how do you maximize his payment? lou that lens ens, it it made sense. >> there were hundreds of victims that were over treated for a can sen cancer they never had. you built yourd. >> this is the most egregious en in 34i life my life and i'm aware of. >> they der termined he billed medicare for $225 million.pockets with as least $17.6 million in fraudulent payments from tnsurance companies.

testing center. a radiation treatment facility and a pharmacy. of those facilities helped enable his scheme. because he could refer his patients to his own clinics for ts. >> was that also part of how he was able to shield himself by ne inside his steer sphere? >> that was part of his scheme.ple to his own pharmacy, fewer questions about why someone needs those treatments. >> questions that were asked on ained away? >> well, you know, people often ask, didn't people inside know this? he lied to everybody.hen he was questioned about something that he called a maintenance protocol about whether that was bricated his own study and showed it to his colleagues and said, look, this is the protocol i'm following.ies knew no boundary ies. >> he was charged with

money laundering. 6 counts. fata did not respond to interview requests from "dateline."t night is that dr. fata was never charged with a crime directly related toused them. you call it murder? >> murder. >> prosecutors called it fraud. >> flat out murder. >> it was fraud. it's more than that. he disabled so many people.ud as far as i'm concerned is a very small part of it. >> why fraud? why not murder? attempted murder?statute we could use. also, there is no evidence that he i people. so we did the next best thing which was charging him with statutes that exposed him to life in prison. evidence that he specifically was giving this to kill people? >> right. i think his goal was to prolong as possible

commodity so that he could make money.ms we spoke to, including monica and steve, suits. some of the suits name affiliated hospitals. and all the healthcare onals working in fata's clinics, including the other doctor. those suits have not been resolved. but it's the state agency that ake any action after the nurse's complaint that has drawn ire from dr. fata's victims. >> for all we understand, the vernment ignored a report, you know. she could have broken the case lives. picture? >> yes. it didn't happen.ureau of professional licenses told "dateline" there was not enough information e to substantiate angela's allegation. in a statement, the bureau's

were implemented in order to better protect the health of michigan citizens.have recovered about $13 million of dr. fata's $17.6 million in fraudulent profits.blower george and his attorney are entitled to $1.7 million from the money. lerting federal rest is slated to go to the victims. individuals are waiting to hear ny, resty ty restitution they will receive. last july they were able to have their day in court at his sentencing hearing.ey stood before the judge and told their stories with dr. fata just a few feet away.ntencing was very tough for me. to listen to people reiterate ere they are now. >> prosecutors asked for the

years.of many victims, the judge decided to send the 50-year-old to prison for 45 years.ery light sentence for the magnitude of the crime and how many people it affected. >> i don't know. i'm disappointed right now. i don't know what i would say. rs and has appealed his sentence. how lucky she is after a broken leg, a chance encounter and a twist of fate.adn't broken your leg, if the doctor hadn't looked at your charts, a lot of this wouldn't have unfolded the way it has.cess that now when you look back at where we are? >> i thank god.oke my leg. it shouldn't have happened. i have tripped and fallen on things before.

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good evening. it's a big night in american politics. we are less than ten minutes democratic debate between the three top candidates. i'm chuck todd here in charleston, south carolina., hillary clinton, bernie sanders and martin o'malley are backstage eir places at the podium p clin . clinton and sanders have been setting broad themes for today's debate.over this morning.

change versus continuity.al showdown, face to face, before the iowa caucuses, which are two weeks he first votes will be cast. tonight's debate will be moderated by lester holt.ned by andrea mitchell. all of us, including the correspondents and experts, willalysis. go over to nbcnews.com. right now, let's get into pre-debate action. we will go down to an dree drea mitchell and kristin. >> i'm with andrea mitchell moments before the debate.xcited. this is the opportunity and just before iowa, last debate before e candidates, see hillary clinton, bernie sanders and martin o'malley. differences? help the voters decide. >> i don't want to give anything away.

the debate. you have been on the campaign trail. a lot of sharp attacks. >> a lot of elbows. the time cog not be better, as you know. going at each other, the intensity of the campaign.cknowledging to supports that perhaps they underestimated him. he has so much support. here where he in south carolina the enthusiasm and the passion.er roots with the african american voters. so this, ironically, could be f he as current polls suggest, and if it turns out that the way, he could win iowa.g neighborhood connection to new hampshire. being from vermont. so, this could be the place. in south carolina to test legs to go further. >> so much at stake for each of these candidates, andrea, just break it down by candidate. for? >> we to want hear hillary

after him?he going to be? big foreign policy questions, you know, at stake as well as we see this weekend. bernie sanders, this is the test of, is this going to be the polite democratic campaign or what we've seen on the campaign trail?ust pause, we have secretary clinton entering right now. shaking some hands.r o'malley. >> and shaking debbie wastzer nds. here is senator sanders that we have all three candidates now preparing for the pivotal debate just 15 days before the iowa caucuses, the last time these candidates face off. voters have their say. so talk about the anticipation that you feel just being here, andrea, that we all feel? >> it's so exciting.m on the trail, we shout questions or try to ask them questions.

you can hear the cheers from inside the theater.ance to get into the policy system and really talk about the things they care about. and, how they handle the pressure from each other.'s no one better to do that than you and lester, and we are very excited about that. o you. >> thank you, kristin. the candidates are on stage right behind me. you hear the cheers there.from all those red ties at the republican debate last week, it is nothing but blue on stage with our candidates.o to another observer, none other than they pal, the chief correspondent of the washington post, and dan, i tell you, in the last 72 hours, emocratic campaign became the republican campaign. there's fighting, there's all sorts of exchanges. there is a debate that people ally anticipating with baited breath. what a 72 hours for hillary clinton. >> its been a real roller coaster for her.k, what we're looking at

closing arguments in this campaign for these two candidates.on the stage, but all focus is on sanders and clinton. we know that she's going to be tough on him. he's changed his position on ouple of days. he's got a new plan health care that he put out just before the debate. there is a lot of substance on at they're going to go after one another on. >> ultimately, dan, this feels wo candidates that have to try to convince the ctorate that you want change or continuity with a little bit of change. it seems that's been the struggle for hillary clinton. easier time making that radical change argument. >> very true. electability. she's going to push that question on him throughout not final weeks before the iowa caucuses and new hampshire.

about whether bernie sanders can general election. he is going to try to show that he's got a grassroots movement. we know he's got some llowing, but what he's going to try to do is say he can bring out voters in november that she can't do.uch, you know, it's interesting this electability environment. i have spent time that there, you don't hear in iowa and new hampshire, you'll hear it in future primaries, but not in the first two contests.t, and i questioned how much it will have an affect in iowa and new hampshire. i mean, those states are e to the kinds of arguments that we hear from candidates at later points in the campaign. i think that in iowa, new otten a very close look. and, really, you know web it's a cliche, but there is an effort to the ground game, identifying the last hard supporters for each candidate and making sure they get out. and so the question of

it is later. >> all right, dan, i'll let you get to your seat to you can porting. thanks very much. let me go back to kristin welker, she spent much of the day talking to the campaign.see everybody getting wired up. what are you hearing back there? do you see nervousness, jitters,re you seeing? >> chuck, you can feel the anticipation back here. there certainly aren't a whole lot of smiles. this is game time. are talking to their top aids. they're getting miked up, they've going over their last s and ideas before they step outen to that to that stage as we've been reporting all night. this is the most pivotal debate yet.st days before the all-important iowa cause kuss before the voters weigh in and urs after vermont senator bernie sanders changed his position on a key piece of gun legislation, and er he released the

plan. so expect secretary clinton to draw sharp lines where with him , but also to paint him as a flip-flopper.er language and based on your conversation, of course, he signalled that that will be her line of attack as well. ey, the stakes could not be higher. he is polling in the single digits. this is his chance to really moment, based on my conversation with senator earlier in the hour, doesn't seem like he's going to be in attack mode.eed to draw the sharp lines if he really wants to break through and get on the race. chuck. >> kristin, i am curious here, i feel like this entire predebate all been about bernie sanders, him releasing this plan, about him changing this position on guns, it's about him releasing a tax plan. ing to be about bernie sanders for better or for worse unless

chuck, has tried to knock the clinton campaign off of its game. is he successful? we'll have to see when they takeck. >> all right. kristin welker, backstage, going thanks very much. what are we going to see tonight? there is an electorate that's s the republicans. democrats are doing something that hasn't happened often. elect a president for a third straight term.g seen more as the continuity candidate with barack obama. sort of progressive change, ge, she described that herself. bernie sanders trying to tap into the progressive i'd listic movement. we've seen it, he's got energy at's a neighboring state of his, but he's also got energy in iowa now. this is the final showdown e candidates before iowa, new hampshire take place. after this, they are going to be racing to iowa, and i guarantee you, it is going to be nothing ll campaigning.