A former billing manager brought the misconduct to the attention of the Justice Department by filing a False Claims Act lawsuit.
Medical-testing firm Genotox Laboratories of Austin, Texas has agreed to pay $5.9 million to resolve allegations it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by paying volume-based commissions to independent sales representatives and specimen collectors.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Genotox compensated sales representatives—whom it referred to as 1099 contractors in reference to their self-employment status under the U.S. Tax Code—based on a percentage of the revenues they generated, including from federal health care programs such as Medicare and Tricare.