Dive Brief:

• Guardant Health will pay almost $914,000 to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act without admitting liability.
• The settlement agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California resolves allegations that an oncologist ordered significantly more Guardant tests after the company hired a family friend and his stepdaughter.
• Guardant voluntarily disclosed the conduct to the government, stopped billing federal healthcare programs for tests ordered by the physician and terminated the stepdaughter’s employment. The U.S. Attorney said the actions entitled Guardant to credit for cooperating.

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Dive Insight:

The origins of the case date back to around April 2021, when an oncologist based in Texas contacted Guardant’s human resources department to recommend a close friend of a family member for the role of account manager in the company’s oncology division. Guardant hired the family friend and assigned the individual to the South Texas region responsible for the oncologist’s account.

In October 2021, the physician contacted Guardant to seek a position for his stepdaughter upon her graduation from college. The oncologist said he was “excited to work” with Guardant while “potentially promoting [the family member’s] career at the same time,” according to the settlement agreement.

Guardant considered the stepdaughter for a position in its screening division but...

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