Doctor forgives Rs 4.7 crore worth of Medical Bills for Cancer Patients

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan
27

Cancer treatment in the United States can, in addition to the emotional and physical trauma, be a financially crippling disease for families with many continuing to pay their bills for decades on end and struggling with insurance rates. 

Doctor Omar Atiq forgave $600,000 of medical bills for cancer patients


Oncologist Dr Omar Atiq was the founder of the cancer treatment center Arkansas Cancer Clinic that provided services ranging from chemotherapy and radiotherapy to diagnostic facilities to cancer patients.

In 2020, owing to a shortage of staff, the clinic finally had to close down after nearly 30 years of service. Going through the records, the Pakistani – American oncologist realized that his patients owed him over $ 650,000 in outstanding debts. A large part of this was because Atiq made sure that no cancer patient was ever denied treatment at the Arkansas Cancer Clinic, irrespective of their insurance status. 

When Atiq reached out to his patients to try to settle the pending debts, he realized that most of them did not have the means to pay for their huge medical bills – a condition worsened by the onset of the COVID19 pandemic. 

Mulling over the topic with his wife, Mehreen, Dr Atiq finally decided to offer one final way to heal the sufferings of his former patients.

family posing for a picture
Dr Omar Atiq (second from left) and his family

When Christmas arrived, nearly 200 of his former patients received a holiday card from their doctor. 

It read:
“The Arkansas Cancer Clinic was proud to have you as a patient. Although various health insurances pay most of the bills for the majority of patients, even the deductibles and co-pays can be burdensome. ...The clinic has decided to forego all balances owed to the clinic by its patients.”

Christmas card from doctor to his patients


After getting the approval of his wife and children and then discussing it with the executive vice President of the Arkansas Medical Society David Wroten, Dr Omar Atiq – the chairman elect of the board of governors of the American College of Physicians - worked with a billing company to cancel all the pending debts of his patients and ensure that none of them would either face any future financial repercussions or have their ability to receive credit in the future negatively impacted by this action.

"We thought there was not a better time to do this than during a pandemic that has decimated homes, people's lives and businesses and all sorts of stuff. We just thought we could do it, and we wanted to, so we went ahead and did it."
- Dr Omar Atiq

Dr Omar forgave over $650,000 ( ~ Rs 4.7 crores) of debt that his patients owed his clinic, the best Christmas surprise the families could have possibly received that year.

If you knew Dr. Atiq, you would better understand. First, he is one of the smartest doctors I have ever known, but he is also one of the most compassionate doctors I have ever known. He truly has a heart-felt love affair with the patients who he has seen.” 
- David Wroten


Heroes of Kindness:


Since 2017, every year, I take up the #BlogchatterA2Z challenge and focus on showcasing lovely real-life heroes from around the worldThe aim is to remind you that there is still plenty of good human beings all around you... to inspire you to smile once more.

Want more stories of compassion? 

I have Hundreds of 'Heroes of Kindness' to brighten your day here. 
Earlier editions can be viewed from the links below:

2017 edition (Articles - 40, Heroes - 67)
2018 edition (Articles - 34, Heroes - 52)
2019 edition (Articles - 31, Heroes - 42)
2020 edition (Articles - 30, Heroes - 64)

Ooh ooh ooh! The 2020 Edition is also available as a book on Kindle too, if you want it that wayyy! (IndiaUS)

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27Comments

Let me know what you think.

  1. This is so heartwarming. Thank you for sharing the story with us.

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  2. Wow, thanks for sharing this story with us, Dr Roshan. Looking forward to your posts through April.

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  3. Thank you for keeping this mission going on, kudos
    Here from AtoZ https://poojapriyamvada.blogspot.com/2021/04/anteayer-newnormal-a2z.html

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  4. There is benevolence and then there is this. I am mindblown by the heart behind this gesture

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  5. I always look forward to your posts . It is heartening to read stories that make you feel good in these times when you hear only bad stories

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  6. Kudos to Dr Omar Atiq for his generosity, and thank you for continuing to share Kindness and hopefully spread it around.

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  7. Such a beautiful inspiring story

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  8. People like Oncologist Dr Omar Atiq are rare but their great deeds make us believe in humanity.

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  9. Kudos to you to keep the mission on and helping us believe that there is kindness still alive in this world. heartwarming read/

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  10. What a heart warming act of kindness! More power to Dr Omar

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  11. Roshan your stories are so heartening. They give us hope..

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  12. Amazing! That was such a huge amount and to think he just waived the whole thing!

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  13. Angels of God...the real heroes in our lives... Thank you for sharing this Doc...it reinforces my faith in humanity

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  14. Such amazing souls are so rare in our society. God bless him! Thanks for sharing Dr. Omar's story with us, Roshan. Looking forward to reading your posts.

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  15. So heartwarming and such a positive post in today's time. Thank you for writing this
    Deepika Sharma

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  16. this series ( hero of kindness) is so heartwarming and inspiring. Dr> omar is doing great job to serving humanity. looking forward for reading next post in series.

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  17. Wow, thank you for sharing about such a great personality.
    Look forward to meet some great heroes in your series once again.

    Not at a large scale but I too write about helping hands - people who have shared positivity with there deeds. All this help to believe in humanity more and more.

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  18. Such people are rare to find... Kudos to their initiative and big salute to their kindness

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  19. It's things like this that make me believe in humanity 🙏❤

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  20. Dr. Atiq came as a Santa to his patients life. These real stories firm our belief in the humanity that yes it is still there. Very few souls could able to empathize with their patient's situation. Great Sharing Dr.Roshan, looking forward to read more about real heroes.

    Archana
    archusblog

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  21. Reading about Dr. Atiq and his generous act not only emphasises that humanity still exists in the world, but also teaches us to be humane and humble in our act.

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  22. wow! So glad to know him through your blog post. This Covid has got many to a standstill due to their financial situation and this is such a huge relief for those families.

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  23. Kudos to such brave effort. A series I am sure going to enjoy. A positive one to keep our faith in humanity alive.
    Sreeparna

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  24. Such a obey gesture by the doctor and he definitely needs to be applauded

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  27. Very Huge Amount of Medical Bill for Cancer Patient. I literally surprised to see the Patient Bill. I read another blog from different site that fesco bill customer received 2 Million Bill of Electricity.

    ReplyDelete
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