NEW YORK – The US Department of Justice said last week that BioReference Health and Opko Health have agreed to pay $704,349 to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act.
The government alleges that BioReference submitted claims to federal healthcare programs for blood tests that were not ordered by a patient's provider.
BioReference was a subsidiary of Opko. In March 2024, Laboratory Corporation of America reached a deal to acquire select assets of BioReference Health for $237.5 million.
According to the government, between Jan. 1, 2012, and March 1, 2023, BioReference and Opko routinely performed complete blood count (CBC) with automated white blood cell (WBC) differential tests in cases where providers had ordered only the less expensive CBC without WBC differential test. They then billed federal healthcare payors for these more expensive and medically unnecessary tests.
The allegations were originally brought through a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The whistleblower will receive $112,694 of the recovered proceeds.
The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability, the DOJ said.