They Clearly Should Not Be Trusted": Judge Upholds 15-Year Exclusion for Laboratory and Owner

​An administrative law judge upheld a 15-year exclusion from federal health plans for a laboratory company and its owner, announced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG) on August 17, 2018. The laboratory was found to have submitted false claims to Medicare to reimburse travel costs associated with the collection of specimens. Specifically, the lab billed Medicare for trained personnel travel, but instead used commercial airlines to ship samples that were unaccompanied by trained personnel.