U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin has announced
a major settlement in connection with fraud committed against the state’s
Medicaid program.
Goodwin said Wednesday
Massachusetts-based Calloway Laboratories has agreed to a $4.6 million
settlement. Calloway did urine tests for Medicaid but instead of charging the
state for that, it added a pathology charge.
The settlement is the largest-ever
health care fraud recovery in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in West Virginia
“Drug treatment programs are a
vital component of our ongoing battle against prescription drug abuse,” Goodwin
said. “Treating providers rely largely on urine drug testing to determine
whether patients are using illegal substances, and if so what substances, and
whether patients are properly taking prescription medications as opposed to selling
them on the street. The cost for such testing often falls upon federal health
care programs like Medicare and Medicaid. The additional expense of unnecessary
review, like that routinely performed by Calloway Labs, increases the burden on
an already stressed system.”
