GENETICALLY MODIFIED

Justice Department Charges 35 in Fake Genetic Testing Scam

A federal investigation dubbed Operation Double Helix found companies targeting people over 65 to bilk Medicare for more than $2 billion in unnecessary charges.

The Department of Justice brought charges against 35 people, including nine doctors and 10 other medical professionals, in a scandal involving fraudulent genetic testing. The individuals are accused of working with dozens of telemarketing companies and testing labs that targeted people over 65 on the Medicaid program. NPR reports that, according to the charges, the schemes involved laboratories paying illegal kickbacks and bribes to medical professionals for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries. The DOJ say the scam cost the Medicare program more than $2 billion in unnecessary charges. “The elderly and disabled are being preyed upon,” Joe Beemsterboer, a senior deputy with the DOJ said Friday. “[It involved a number of people from] those collecting patient information, to those selling it, to those doctors corruptly prescribing these genetic tests, to the labs corruptly billing the Medicare program.”