DoJ recently busted a Miami, FL-based ring who fraudulently bilked taxpayers by “spinning” patients’ blood to falsify lab results, fooling CMS into paying for otherwise unnecessary meds at HIV infusion clinics. The scheme consists of: (1) obtaining vials of blood drawn from clinic patients; (2) placing the vials in a blood centrifuge; and (3) rotating the blood in the centrifuge for about 15 minutes, causing the blood to separate into its component parts. When sent for lab analysis, the tainted blood makes it appear that otherwise healthy blood has dangerously low platelet counts, which would justify the billing of Medicare for expensive HIV treatments. More than $20M was fraudulently billed before the fraud was discovered.

To report Medicare of Medicaid fraud, contact Frohsin & Barger.