BioReference Health, formerly known as BioReference Laboratories, and OPKO Health have agreed to pay $9.85 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act arising from BioReference’s payment of above-market rents to physician landlords for office space to induce referrals from those physicians to BioReference, according to a July 14 Justice Department press release.
As part of the settlement, BioReference admitted that it rented the office space from the specified physician practices for Patient Service Centers, where patients could have their blood samples taken. In calculating payments under certain PSC lease arrangements, BioReference inaccurately measured the amount of space BioReference would use exclusively and included a disproportionate share of common spaces.
The settlement resolves allegations initially brought in a lawsuit filed by Jean Marie Crowley, a former employee at BioReference and OPKO, under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. Ms. Crowley will receive approximately $1.7 million as her share of the recovery in this case.
BioReference, a subsidiary of OPKO, is headquartered in New Jersey and is one of the largest clinical laboratories in the United States.