Federal agreement resolves claims over referral commissions paid by California laboratory.
A California laboratory and its owner have agreed to pay $1.25 million to resolve federal allegations involving payments made to marketers in exchange for patient referrals. The settlement involves Lab Genomics LLC, a medical testing facility based in Fountain Valley, California, and its owner, Leena Dalal. The agreement addresses claims that the lab used improper payment arrangements to encourage each outside marketer to direct medical providers toward its testing services. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that Lab Genomics and Dalal violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by making payments that broke federal rules governing referrals for services covered by government-funded insurance programs between January 2020 and September 2022.
According to the government, the lab paid three independent contractors commissions based on the number and value of referrals they generated. The marketers were allegedly paid to persuade medical providers to order laboratory tests through Lab Genomics or recommend its services to patients. Federal investigators said these arrangements were designed to reward the marketers for bringing in additional testing orders rather than paying them a set amount for their work.
The government also alleged that the lab attempted to conceal the marketer commission arrangements through its billing records. Instead of openly documenting payments based on...
Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron filed a new defamation lawsuit in the United States last week against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who claims the French president's wife is a transgender woma...