Dr. Omar Atiq is a Pakistani origin doctor in the United States, he found a cancer clinic in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. However, he decided to close his clinic after almost three decades. Before Christmas, he sent holiday greeting to his former cancer patients, telling them that their overdue payments will be cleared.
Dr. Atiq paid off $650,000 debt of around 200 cancer patients. He opened up about his kind gesture and told Good Morning America, “Over time I realised that there are people who just are unable to pay. So my wife and I, as a family, we thought about it and looked at forgiving all the debt”.
The greeting card read as “I hope this note finds you well. The Arkansas Cancer Clinic was proud to serve you as a patient. Although various health insurances pay most of the bills for majority of patients, even the deductibles and co-pays can be burdensome. Unfortunately, that is the way our healthcare system currently works”.
“Arkansas Cancer Clinic is closing its practice after over 29 years of dedicated service to the community. The clinic has decided to forego all balances owed to the clinic by its patients. Happy Holidays,” it added.
As per Atiq, the cancer patients who got the Christmas greeting card had medical debts that totaled to thousands of dollars from their treatment.
