Sutter Health to pay $13M for lab testing false claims

Sutter Health agreed to pay more than $13 million for violating the False Claims Act by billing the United States for toxicology tests it did not conduct but outsourced to other labs, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

From August 2016 through June 2017, Sutter engaged in a laboratory services agreement with Navigant Network Alliance, in which Navigant sent urine specimens from physician offices and other laboratories nationwide to Sutter for testing. The DOJ alleged in its settlement agreement Sutter outsourced thousands of tests to third-party laboratories and still billed government health programs as if it had performed the tests at its own labs, a violation of the False Claims Act.

The DOJ alleged Sutter knowingly billed and was paid by the government programs for the tests it did not perform.