Averhealth to pay $1.3M in DOJ drug test false claims case

National drug testing firm Averhealth agreed to pay $1.3 million to settle allegations, first brought by a whistleblower, that it knowingly submitted false claims to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

Michigan’s Children’s Protective Services and Foster Care contracted with Averhealth, doing business in Michigan as Avertest, to drug test parents with a history of addiction, the DOJ said in a press release Thursday. The program was administered by the MDHHS and paid with a federal Social Service Block Grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The case resolved claims brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Sarah Riley, a physician. She will receive nearly $229,000 of the settlement total.