Secon Of New England, LLC, Falsifying Medical Claims, Connecticut 2015

A Connecticut healthcare company and laboratory have agreed to pay $845,108 to resolve federal and state False Claims Act allegations.

U.S. Attorney John H. Durham and Special Agent in Charge Phillip Coyne of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, announced that SECON OF NEW ENGLAND, LLC, d/b/a SECON LABORATORIES, and STERLING HEALTHCARE OPCO, LLC, d/b/a CORDANT HEALTH SOLUTIONS (collectively, “Cordant”) have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal and state governments.

Cordant Health Solutions, which is based in Denver, Colorado, provides healthcare testing and monitoring services nationwide, including laboratory services for drug testing. Cordant’s subsidiary, Secon Laboratories, is a laboratory located in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The government alleges that Cordant knew or should have known that the tests that Crossroads ordered for its residents more than two times a week were not medically necessary. The United States and the State of Connecticut contend that Cordant failed to report and return overpayments for the claims Connecticut Medicaid paid Cordant for performing these medically unnecessary tests.

To resolve allegations under the federal and state False Claims Acts, Cordant has paid $845,108 to the government for overpayments occurring between October 6, 2015, and February 8, 2017.

“Government funded tests must be ordered based on each patient’s medical needs,” said U.S. Attorney Durham. “Laboratories have a responsibility to ensure that the claims they submit to government health care programs are for medically necessary testing services. If a laboratory discovers that it has performed and billed for tests that were not medically necessary, it has a duty and to report and return any overpayments, and to modify its practices.”

This matter was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Kaczmarek, and by Assistant Attorney General Gregory O’Connell of the Attorney General’s Office.

People who suspect health care fraud are encouraged to report it by calling 1-800-HHS-TIPS or the Health Care Task Force at (203) 777-6311.

The Defendant, SECON OF NEW ENGLAND, LLC, is a healthcare company based in New England. The crime is Falsifying Medical Claims. The case occurred in Connecticut in 2015. The outcome of the case is a civil settlement agreement with the federal and state governments, resulting in a payment of $845,108.

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