A chain of opiate addiction treatment centers in Kentucky has agreed to pay the federal government more than $15 million dollars.
The agreement resolves civil allegations that they fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid.
Dr. Bryan Wood and Dr. Robin Peavler are alleged to have billed the government for excessive urine tests by funneling drug screens completed at their SelfRefind centers through PremierTox, a lab they also owned. The government says PremierTox also submitted false claims that misidentified the class of drug that was tests for and received a higher financial reimbursement than necessary.
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky Kerry Harvey says his office is making a point of highlighting healthcare fraud.
"We hope that a settlement of this magnitude will send a message to other providers that we intend to use every tool at the disposal of the federal government to detect healthcare fraud," Harvey says.
SelfRefind clinics are located in a dozen Kentucky cities including Danville and Frankfort.
The Commonwealth is set to receive $2.74 million of the recovered Medicaid funds.
