Acting United States Attorney Richard B. Myrus announced that the United States has reached a settlement that resolves civil claims against Zaheer Shah, M.D. Park Square Urgent Care, Inc., and several affiliated entities, related to the defendants’ alleged submission of false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for urine drug screening tests they were ill-equipped to perform. The agreement, under which the defendants will pay a total of $650,000, resolves a civil case filed by the government in federal court in the District of Rhode Island: United States of America v. Park Square Urgent Care, Inc., et al. No. 20-cv-00110-WES-LDA. The settlement is based on an analysis of the defendants’ ability to pay based on an extensive review of their current financial condition. The government’s case alleged that these medical providers, acting under the direction of Dr. Shah, submitted tens of thousands of false claims to Medicare and Medicaid, seeking reimbursement for urine drug tests that they did not, and could not, perform, because their testing laboratories lacked the equipment or capability to carry out the tests. Despite the fact that these labs could only perform simpler tests, which carry a lower reimbursement rate, the labs were alleged to have knowingly billed Medicare and Medicaid for more complex, and expensive, drug screening tests.
