Opko, BioReference to pay over $700K to resolve False Claims Act allegations

BioReference Health LLC, formerly known as BioReference Laboratories Inc., and OPKO Health (OPK) Inc. have agreed to pay $704,349 to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act arising from BioReference’s submission of claims for laboratory tests that had not been ordered by a patient’s provider. OPKO is a Delaware Corporation. BioReference, a subsidiary of OPKO, is headquartered in New Jersey and is one of the largest clinical laboratories in the United States. The United States alleged that BioReference and OPKO knowingly submitted false claims to federal healthcare programs for complete blood count (CBC) with automated white blood cell differential laboratory tests that were not medically necessary. Specifically, the United States alleged that, from Jan. 1, 2012, until March 1, 2023, BioReference and OPKO routinely performed more expensive CBC with WBC differential tests when, in fact, medical providers had ordered less expensive CBC with no WBC differential tests, and then billed federal healthcare programs for the more expensive and medically unnecessary tests.