Owensboro doctor Kishor Vora has entered into a settlement with the United States Department of Justice to resolve allegations that he referred patients for genetic testing in exchange for kickbacks, officials announced Wednesday. Vora has paid $931,500 to resolve the allegations.
The announcement came from Michael A. Bennett, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.
“Our office will continue to investigate and hold accountable medical professionals who undermine our healthcare system and programs by accepting illegal kickbacks,” Bennett said.
The United States’ complaint alleged that Vora executed an elaborate and extensive scheme to maximize profits at the expense of both patients and Medicare.
In particular, the complaint alleged that between May 2012 and March 2013, Vora violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute by accepting illegal kickbacks from a laboratory, National Molecular Testing Corporation (NMTC), in exchange for sending Medicare-reimbursed orders for pharmacogenomics testing (tests that show how genes affect a person’s response to particular drugs).
The complaint also alleged that Vora ordered and submitted medically unnecessary and unreasonable tests to NMTC in exchange for these illegal kickbacks.
Vora issued a lengthy statement regrading the settlement. The full statement is attached below, while a portion of the statement reads as follows:
“I chose to settle the lawsuit to avoid the continued expense and burden of fighting a lawsuit in federal court. To be clear, the fact that I settled is not an admission of wrongdoing whatsoever. I would also like to point out that my practice was not involved in billing Medicare for the genetic testing, nor did the practice ever receive any payment from Medicare for the testing. The actual amount of the fees my practice received from NMTC was far less than the settlement amount.”
