When it comes to the healthcare sector, the Justice Department and the HHS-Office of Inspector General have no shortage of investigations and targets for prosecution. The more resources made available to DOJ and HHS-OIG, the more money made for the federal government from medical care fraud. It is a very simple equation. It is like shooting fish in a barrel.

BioReference and OPKO Health, Inc. agreed to pay $9.85 million to resolve False Claims Act violation stemming from BioReference’s payment of above-market rents to physician landlords for office space in order to induce referrals from those physicians to BioReference, which is a subsidiary of OPKO and one of the largest clinical laboratories in the United States.

Between January 2013 and March 2021, BioReference made lease payments to physicians and physician groups to rent office space that exceeded fair market value in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Physician Self-Referral Law.

The AKS law prohibits offering or paying remuneration to induce the referral of items or services covered by federal healthcare program. The Stark Law prohibits a healthcare provide from billing for certain services referred by physicians with whom the provider has a financial relationship. Both of these laws are intended to preserve physicians’ independent judgment as to the appropriate medical care for patients and prevent improper consideration of benefits and payments from other interested parties.

BioReference rented...

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