Genetic Testing Fraudster to Plead Guilty

The U.S. Department of Justice’s campaign against genetic testing scams continues and the latest accused lab owner is set to plead guilty. Ravitej Reddy, the owner of Personalized Genetics in Pittsburgh and Med Health Services Management in nearby Monroeville, was charged in November with paying kickbacks in a conspiracy to induce referrals for $127 million in Medicare billing for genetic testing services. Local newspapers reported his impending guilty plea.

The details of the scheme were as outlined in a government Fraud Alert that was first discussed here. Reddy’s alleged co-conspirators obtained testing samples by sending cheek-swab test kits to Medicare beneficiaries’ homes and distributing them at public “health fairs.” The tests can detect genetic mutations that may increase patients’ risk of developing cancer, or determine whether certain medications would be effective for a particular patient. Telemedicine physicians involved in the scheme provided the prescriptions necessary to bill Medicare for the testing, but proper telemedicine visits were not conducted and the patients were not actually suspected of having cancer.

A previous unrelated roundup of alleged genetic testing fraudsters by the DOJ was discussed here.