Admera Health LLC, Kickbacks, New Jersey 2024

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Table of Contents

Admera Health Agrees to Pay $5.5M for Kickbacks

Admera Health LLC, a New Jersey-based company that provides biopharmaceutical research services, has agreed to pay $5,389,648 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying commissions to third-party independent contractor marketers in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).

The settlement resolves allegations that Admera made commission-based payments to independent contractor marketers in return for recommending or arranging for the ordering of genetic testing services from September 1, 2014, through May 21, 2021.

According to Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, the law prohibits healthcare providers from paying kickbacks in the form of commissions to third parties as an inducement to generate business.

U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California stated, ‘By entering into kickback arrangements, health care companies can cause providers to make medical decisions that are motivated by financial gain rather than the patient’s best interest.’

Admera has admitted to making millions of dollars in commission payments to independent-contractor marketers, which took into account the volume and value of genetic testing referrals.

The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by relators Sunil Wadhwa and Ken Newton, co-founders of Financial Halo LLC/MedXPrime, a former third-party marketer for Admera.

Relators Wadhwa and Newton will receive $862,343 of the proceeds from the settlement. The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, with substantial assistance from HHS-OIG.