BOSTON — An independent clinical laboratory in New Bedford and one of its owners have been indicted on a range of criminal charges in connection with an illegal kickback and Medicaid fraud scheme involving urine drug screens at sober homes, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.
New Bedford-based Optimum Labs, Inc. and William Owens, Jr., 60, of New Bedford, were indicted Thursday by a statewide grand jury on the charges of Medicaid False Claims (3 counts), Larceny over $1200 under False Pretenses (3 counts), and Kickbacks, Bribery, or Rebates (2 counts). Arraignment will follow in Suffolk Superior Court.
The AG’s Office alleges that Optimum referred certain of its urine drug tests to two other laboratories, Dominion Diagnostics of North Kingstown, Rhode Island and Aspenti Health of South Burlington, Vermont, in exchange for a percentage of collected insurance reimbursements in violation of the Massachusetts anti-kickback statute.
The AG’s Office further alleges that most of Optimum’s business was urine drug testing for residential sobriety monitoring purposes at Massachusetts sober homes. Under state regulations, laboratories may not bill MassHealth for tests performed for residential monitoring purposes because such tests are not medically necessary and thus not a MassHealth covered service. In many cases, the urine drug tests were not ordered by physicians, nurses, or an appropriate authorized prescriber. By billing MassHealth and its Managed Care Entities for...
Welcome to Reality Check, NewsGuard’s nonpartisan newsletter that tracks the false claims and conspiracy theories that shape our world — and who’s behind them. Please support us by becoming a premi...