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Be Kind: Retiring doctor wipes away $650K in debt as parting gift to patients

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Sunday, January 3, 2021

Be Kind: Doctor wipes away 650K in debt as gift to patients

Dr. Omar Atiq, a retiring doctor from Arkansas with ties to New York, wiped away $650,000 in total debt from his patients' balances as a parting gift.

ARKANSAS (WABC) -- A retiring doctor from Arkansas gave a generous parting gift to his patients after his 30 years on the job.

Last spring, Dr. Omar Atiq closed down his oncology practice.

Many patients of his had outstanding balances.

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Atiq knew that many of them were under heavy financial strain because of the virus.

So as a parting gift, the good doctor wiped away the debt for 200 of his patients.

The total debt of $650,000 was taken off the books, and the doctor even made time to send holiday cards.

"They're like our extended families -- there's no higher honor than to serve as a physician, if I have been blessed to be able to help a little, then I am glad for it," Atiq says.

Atiq founded the Arkansas Cancer Clinic in 1991.

He is originally from Pakistan but moved to Arkansas after he completed a fellowship at Manhattan's Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.