Three independent clinical laboratories, their owner and holding company, an additional independent clinical laboratory and its owner, two laboratory marketing companies, and a Massachusetts physician have been charged in connection with Medicaid fraud, money laundering, and kickbacks involving urine drug tests that caused over $2 million in false claims to the state, Attorney General Maura Healey announced. These indictments are connected by a central defendant, Vipin Adhlakha, and the three independent clinical laboratories that he has owned, Alpha Labs, Aria Diagnostics, and Preferred Laboratory, which all submitted claims to MassHealth and MassHealth managed care entities for urine drug testing.
The AG’s Office alleges that Adhlakha and his companies engaged in kickback relationships with marketing companies OSA Exports and Summit Diagnostics to increase the number of urine drug tests referred to his laboratories in exchange for a percentage of collected insurance reimbursements in violation of the Massachusetts anti-kickback statute. The AG’s Office also alleges that Adhlakha and his companies engaged in a separate kickback relationship with Lab USA, which involved the referral of urine samples for testing in exchange for a percentage of collected insurance reimbursements.
