Press Releases
10/03/2024
Attorney General Tong Announces $27 Million Multistate False Claims Settlement with Precision Diagnostics
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong announced today that Connecticut has joined the United States, the District of Columbia, and 42 other States in settling allegations against Precision Toxicology, LLC d/b/a Precision Diagnostics, Inc. (“Precision”). The settlement resolves allegations that Precision knowingly submitted or caused to be submitted false claims to the Medicaid program related to urine drug testing (“UDT”) that was either not medically necessary or tainted by kickbacks. As part of the settlement the State of Connecticut will receive $277,780.24 in restitution and other recoveries.
Pursuant to the settlement, Precision will pay $27 million, plus interest, to the United States, the District of Columbia and 42 states to resolve the allegations set forth in three lawsuits filed by whistleblowers under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private parties to bring suit on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery. Two of the cases are captioned United States and Maryland ex rel. Hudak v. Precision Toxicology, LLC, ELH-18-1510 (D. Md.) and United States, Illinois and Minnesota ex rel. Buonauro v. Precision Diagnostics, LLC et al., ELH-21-3231 (D. Md). The third qui tam case against Precision, brought in the District of Colorado, remains partially sealed.
Precision is a toxicology laboratory that markets and performs laboratory UDT nationwide, primarily for substance use disorder and pain management providers. The settlement resolves allegations that from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2022, Precision submitted or caused false claims to be submitted to Medicaid for UDT that was not medically reasonable and necessary for diagnosis or treatment. Specifically, it was alleged that Precision developed and implemented a policy and practice of utilizing non-allowable blanket orders for UDT without any physician making an individualized determination that the UDT was medically necessary or reasonable for the particular patients for whom the tests were ordered. The settlement also resolves allegations that Precision, during the period of January 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014, provided free point-of-care UDT cups to physicians in exchange for UDT referrals, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b).
“Kickbacks and claims for medically unnecessary tests threaten the integrity of public health care programs and waste taxpayer dollars,” said Attorney General Tong. “We will continue to work closely with our partners at the state and federal level to root out illegal practices and protect our public healthcare programs and the patients they serve.”
Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the public healthcare system is asked to contact the Attorney General’s Government Fraud Section at 860-808-5040 or by email at ag.fraud@ct.gov; the Connecticut Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at 860-258-5986 or by email at conndcj@ct.gov; or the Connecticut Department of Social Services fraud reporting hotline at 1-800-842-2155, online at www.ct.gov/dss/reportingfraud, or by email to providerfraud.dss@ct.gov.
A National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (“NAMFCU”) Team investigated the allegations in conjunction with the Department of Justice and United States Attorneys Offices in Colorado, Connecticut, and Maryland. The NAMFCU Team included representatives from the Offices of the Attorneys General for the states of Florida, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, and Virginia. Assistant Attorney General Karla Turekian, Forensic Fraud Examiner Lisa Bailey, and Deputy Associate Attorney General Gregory O’Connell, Chief of the Government Fraud Section, assisted the Attorney General in this matter.
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Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
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