US Department of Justice sends a strong message that it will continue to root out fraud involving clinical laboratory owners and operators
Arkansas clinical laboratory owner/operator Billy Joe Taylor has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison and ordered to pay nearly $30 million in restitution, according to a June 8 press release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas.
Taylor pleaded guilty in October of 2022 to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering. He and his accomplices submitted $134 million in false or fraudulent claims to Medicare before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The claims came from five laboratory companies owned and operated by Taylor and his co-conspirators. All claims centered around respiratory illness tests or urine drug tests that were either not medically necessary or not ordered by medical providers, the DOJ’s press release states.
Taylor’s 15-year sentence in federal prison and huge restitution reinforces the fact that the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) will indict—and convict—owners and managers of clinical laboratory companies accused of healthcare fraud.
Billy Joe Taylor, owner/operator of five clinical laboratories in four states, was sentenced in June to 15 years in prison and ordered to repay nearly $30 million in fraudulent test claims made to Medicare prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This conviction is part of an ongoing campaign against healthcare fraud being conducted by the US Department of Justice. (Photo copyright: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.)
Details of Taylor Fraud Case
Taylor allegedly obtained private personal and medical data from Medicare beneficiaries and then used that information to submit and resubmit claims to Medicare for diagnostic tests. More than $38 million was received from Medicare on those fraudulent claims, the DOJ noted.
According to an October 2022 DOJ press release, the labs involved in the case included:
- Vitas Laboratory LLC in Barling, Arkansas.
- Corrlabs LLC in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
- Nations Laboratory Services LLC in Tecumseh, Oklahoma.
- Beach Tox LLC in Torrance, California.
- Imaginus Diagnostic Laboratory LLC in Spiro, Oklahoma.
In 2021, Taylor claimed innocence and told Arkansas Business that the accusations were “sensationalism-type claims from the government that were completely erroneous and false.”
As a young man, Taylor planned to go into the clinical laboratory field when he was still in high school. He got started by volunteering at his hometown hospital in Stigler, Oklahoma, the Free Library reported. Eventually hired by the hospital to draw blood, run tests, and keep quality control and inspection data, Taylor later moved to other hospitals before partnering in 2009 to start Advanced Laboratory Services (ALS) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
A pulmonary embolism and stroke forced Taylor to sell his share in ALS, and not long after returning as a consultant, his business partner sold the lab company. Taylor joined two people from a Tulsa laboratory to start a new company, acquiring Medtest Laboratories LLC of Hurricane, West Virginia, and Vitas laboratory LLC in 2017. He hoped to compete with national laboratories, earning up to $2 million per month, the Free Library reported.
Other Clinical Laboratory Testing Fraud Schemes
The DOJ’s aggressive efforts to crack down on healthcare fraud over the past years have produced multiple court cases against clinical laboratory owners, managers, and the doctors who conspire with them. Dark Daily has covered such fraud cases in numerous ebriefings over the years.
In “Southern California Physician and Clinical Laboratory Owners Charged in Federal Crackdown on Pandemic-Related Billing Fraud,” we reported on federal charges that had been brought against a number of physicians and clinical laboratory owners in what the DOJ described as the “largest ever” coordinated nationwide law enforcement effort against COVID-19 pandemic-related healthcare fraud.
Also, in “California Clinical Laboratory Owners among 21 Defendants Indicted or Criminally Charged for COVID-19 Test Fraud and Other Schemes Totaling $214 Million,” we covered how the DOJ had charged the owners of a California clinical laboratory—as well as 19 other defendants—for their roles in fraudulent billing, kickbacks, and money laundering schemes to defraud Medicare of more than $214 million.
And in “Department of Justice Recovers $1.8B from Medical Laboratory Owners and Others Accused of Alleged Healthcare Fraud During COVID-19 Pandemic,” we reported that DOJ had recovered billions of dollars as a result of federal investigations into alleged healthcare fraud by clinical laboratories and other organizations during fiscal year 2020.
DOJ’s Healthcare Fraud Unit
In 2021, the DOJ’s Healthcare Fraud Unit brought “criminal charges against 14 defendants, including 11 newly-charged defendants and three who were charged in superseding indictments, in seven federal districts across the United States for their alleged participation in various healthcare fraud schemes that exploited the COVID-19 pandemic and resulted in over $143 million in false billings,” a DOJ press release announced.
In a statement to the press, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said, “The multiple healthcare fraud schemes charged today describe theft from American taxpayers through the exploitation of the national emergency … These medical professionals, corporate executives, and others allegedly took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to line their own pockets instead of providing needed healthcare services during this unprecedented time in our country.
“We are committed to protecting the American people and the critical healthcare benefits programs created to assist them during this national emergency, and we are determined to hold those who exploit such programs accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” she added.
Monaco’s statement emphasizes the DOJ’s expanding focus on healthcare fraud. The DOJ formed the Health Care Fraud Strike Force in 2007 to handle cases like Taylor’s. The program is composed of 15 teams operating out of 25 federal districts. During the 15 plus years the Strike Force has been active, the DOJ has charged more than 5,000 defendants who collectively billed over $24 billion to both private insurers and federal healthcare programs.
Therefore, it behooves clinical laboratory managers to ensure all lab operations are well-within the bounds of legality. The DOJ is taking its hunt for healthcare fraudsters quite seriously.
—Kristin Althea O’Connor
Related Information:
Lavaca Man Sentenced in $134 Million COVID-19 Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme
Lavaca Man Gets July 19 Sentencing Date in Federal Healthcare Fraud, Money Laundering Case
Lavaca Man Pleads Guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Healthcare Fraud and Money Laundering
Lavaca Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Millions in Medicare Fraud
DOJ Announces Coordinated Law Enforcement Action to Combat Healthcare Fraud Related to COVID-19
Federal Trial for Lavaca Man Facing Healthcare Fraud Charges Moved to Next Year
