Family speaks out following local cancer doctor's arrest

Family has plenty of questions, few answers for Dr. Farid Fata

PONTIAC, Mich. – There are now more questions than answers for a local family who lost their father last year.  Alonzo Jamison Sr. was placed under the care of Dr. Farid Fata.  Tuesday, Fata was arrested by federal agents, accused of diagnosing people with cancer who didn't have the disease, and prescribing treatment they did not need. 

---Family members of Alonzo Jamison Sr.

Jamison's family now says they are unsure of how their father died.  He was fine before he met with Dr. Fata, and was told after being diagnosed with colon cancer, that he could expect a full recovery. "Dr. Fata told him that he had a 75 to 85 percent chance of living.  I talked to my father on the phone after he left the doctor's office and he was happy. He was saying I'm going to live" said Jamison's daughter Portia Stephens.

READ: Michigan doctor in custody on health care fraud charges, feds raid his home

Jamison was prescribed chemotherapy and other treatments.  Following those treatments, the family says he became week and nine months later, died.

The family now says they have questions about their father's illness.  Did Alonzo Jamison even have cancer at all?  That question may never ultimately be answered.

Sketch of Farid Fata in court on Tuesday. Sketch done by Jerry Lemenu.

If you or someone you know may be a victim, you are urged to call the U.S. Attorney's office patient hotline at 1-888-702-0553


About the Authors:

Paula Tutman is an Emmy award-winning journalist who came to Local 4 in 1992. She's married and the stepmother of three beautiful and brilliant daughters. Her personal philosophy in life, love and community is, "Do as much as you can possibly do, not as little as you can possibly get away with".