WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The Department of Justice announced a $3.75 million settlement with Dr. David G. Bostwick in a deal that resolves allegations of False Claims Act violations.
Bostwick’s business, Bostwick Laboratories Inc., allegedly billed Medicaid and Medicare for unnecessary cancer detection tests between 2006 to 2011, even when the tests weren't ordered by physicians. Bostwick additionally provided incentives to physicians obtaining Medicare and Medicaid business, according to the Justice Department’s claims. Bostwick Laboratories is a pathology laboratory based in Glen Allen, Virginia.
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that every laboratory test ordered is based on the medical needs of the patient and not just to increase physician and laboratory profits,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said. “This case shows that the department will not hesitate to hold accountable both the companies and the individuals who order or perform excessive, non-patient specific tests and provide inducements to physicians that lead to unnecessary costs being imposed upon our nation’s health care programs.”
Some of the tests that Bostwick allegedly directed the laboratory to bill were Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) tests, which are used to detect bladder cancer. Medicare reimbursement for these tests ranged from $456 to $966 per test.