CT wins share of $27M settlement with medical lab that sent false claims to Medicaid
YEHYUN KIM / CTMIRROR.ORG
Attorney General William Tong speaks at a January 2022 press conference in Hartford.
Connecticut is among 43 states that have settled allegations against a medical laboratory that it knowingly submitted false claims to Medicaid, Attorney General William Tong announced Thursday.
San Diego-based Precision Diagnostics, which has a lab in Dartmouth, Massachusetts and operates throughout the United States, agreed to pay Connecticut $277,780 in restitution and other recoveries for submitting claims for urine testing that was not medically necessary, or tainted by kickbacks, according to Tong’s office.
Precision will pay a total of $27 million, plus interest, to the federal government and other states involved in three lawsuits against it. The lawsuits were filed by whistleblowers in conjunction with several states.
The lawsuits alleged that Precision ordered blanket urine drug testing without a physician making a determination that it was medically necessary or reasonable for particular patients.
Also, between Jan. 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014, Precision allegedly provided free urine cups to physicians in exchange for referrals, a violation of the federal anti-kickback statute.
“Kickbacks and claims for medically unnecessary tests threaten the integrity of public health care programs and waste taxpayer dollars,” Tong said. “We will continue to work closely with our partners at the state and federal level to root out illegal practices and protect our public healthcare programs and the patients they serve.”
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments