Two US medical testing laboratories have agreed to pay $48.5 million in fine to settle the lawsuit related to unnecessary testing as well as unfair trade practices under the False Claims Act.
Richmon, VA-based Health Diagnostics Laboratory Inc (HDL) has agreed to pay $47 million to settle the lawsuit. Another company Singulex Inc has also agreed to settle the agreement by paying around $1.5 million in fines. While HDl has not commented on the problem, Singulex has denied any wrongdoing in a recently released statement.
Both companies were also charged for offering kickbacks to doctors for recommending patients for blood tests that were not required in most of the cases. Doctors were paid between $10 and 17 for referring patients for undergoing blood tests to the laboratories.
According to Department of Justice (DOJ) the violations happened at Singulex Inc between January 2010 and October 2014. While the violations at HDL were reported between November 2008 and January 2015 in the complaint under the False Claims Act.
In a blog post written for the popular website KevinMD.com, physician Anees Chagpar commented on the most enduring problem that is at the moment being faced by America’s healthcare system: We the United States spend more per capita than any other nation on earth, and yet the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Commonwealth Fund find the U.S. lagging in terms of access, quality, efficiency, and equity of care.
She went on saying, We need to stop the madness…we need to practice more rational evidence-based medicine.
Commenting on the development, Singulex Inc. said, Singulex has entered into an agreement with (the Department of Justice) that fully resolves the investigation, and Singulex denies any wrongdoing. Singulex entered into the agreement to avoid protracted and expensive litigation and in order to move forward with the Company’s business.