In brief
A medical lab that was forced to defend against “vexatious” False Claims Act litigation was entitled to attorneys’ fees from the relator, a U.S. District Court judge has determined.
The relator, Florida medical practice Omni Healthcare, brought a qui tam suit against defendant MD Labs, a Nevada-based clinical laboratory, alleging that it violated the FCA by billing the government for medically unnecessary polymerase chain reaction tests for urinary tract infections.
Omni additionally claimed that MD Labs violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying commissions to sales reps working as independent contractors based on revenues generated from testing ordered by providers at their accounts.
After being awarded summary judgment, MD Labs argued that it was entitled to a fee award because Omni’s owner, physician Greg Deligdish, knowing that polymerase chain reaction tests for urinary tract infections were never medically necessary, ordered his staff to request such testing from MD Labs solely to substantiate Omni’s FCA claims and generate whistleblower litigation.
Judge Patti B. Saris agreed, characterizing Deligdish’s actions as the type of “vexatious” conduct that warrants fees under the FCA’s fee-shifting provision.
“[Deligdish] even continued to order PCR UTI testing from MD Labs after the filing of the initial complaint in this case in December 2018, which...
The media has been rife with misinformation and libels about Israel’s conduct during the war that was triggered two years ago by the Hamas-led massacres in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Hone...