NEW YORK — The US Department of Justice said last week that North Carolina lab Aspirar Medical Lab and its owner Pick Chay have agreed to pay $1.95 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act.
According to the DOJ, between March 25, 2016, and Sept. 19, 2017, Chay and Cary, North Carolina-based Aspirar submitted false claims to Medicaid for urine drug testing. The government alleges that the claims were submitted illegally because Aspirar had an arrangement with BPolloni Consulting in which it paid BPolloni kickbacks for referrals from that company or a related entity, Do It 4 the Hood Corporation (D4H), for urine drug tests.
Additionally, the government said the drug test claims submitted by Aspirar were for tests that were not medically necessary because they were not patient-specific and did not reflect a qualified medical provider's determination of the patient's need for the testing.
The CEO of BPolloni and other individuals who operated D4H previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and Anti-Kickback Statute violations.