April 11, 2016
Tennessee-based drug urine screening company
PremierTox 2.0, Inc. (previously called
Nexus) agreed to pay $2.5 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims when billing Medicare, TennCare and Kentucky Medicaid for drug urine screening services. According to the government, PremierTox had a swapping arrangement under which Nexus gave below cost discounts on its urine drug screen tests to patients in Tennessee without insurance, in exchange for physicians’ referring their patients with Medicare or TennCare coverage to Nexus. The government also contended that in Tennessee Nexus submitted excessive claims to Medicare and TennCare for laboratory testing that was beyond what was medically reasonable and necessary. The allegations originated in two whistleblower lawsuits filed under the
qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by a former office manager of a pain clinic and the former CEO of PremierTox. The office manager will receive a whistleblower award of $361,250, and the former CEO will receive a whistleblower award of $56,250.
DOJ (MDTN)