Urine Drug Testing Laboratory And Owner Agree To Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - U.S. Attorney Dena J. King announced today that LabXperior Corporation (LabXperior) and owner Tina Ball (Ball) have paid $235,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the Federal False Claims Act and North Carolina False Claims Act by knowingly billing North Carolina Medicaid (Medicaid) for urine drug tests that were medically unnecessary and resulted from violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.

The United States and State of North Carolina alleged that from September 28, 2016, through December 20, 2017, LabXperior submitted claims to Medicaid for urine drug tests that were false. The claims were false because they were the result of an illegal kickback arrangement between LabXperior and BPolloni Consulting, LLC (BPolloni), an entity that referred urine drug tests to LabXperior. Under the arrangement, LabXperior paid BPolloni a percentage of the revenue or profit from the Medicaid reimbursement for each urine drug test that BPolloni arranged for another entity, Do It 4 the Hood Corporation (D4H), to send to LabXperior. The Chief Executive Officer of BPolloni and other individuals who operated D4H previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and Anti-Kickback Statute violations arising from D4H's illegal kickback arrangements with urine drug testing laboratories.

In addition to being tainted by illegal kickbacks, the United States and State of North Carolina alleged that claims for drug tests that LabXperior submitted to Medicaid were false because the tests were medically unnecessary. Specifically, the orders for the tests were not patient-specific and did not reflect a qualified medical provider's determination of the patient's need for the testing.

The civil settlement and resolution of claims obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI in Charlotte, with assistance from the Medicaid Investigations Division of the North Carolina Attorney General's Office, the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations.

The investigation and resolution of this matter illustrates the government's emphasis on combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act.

Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, can be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).