Business ProfileforBioReference Health LLC

The following describes a government action that has been resolved by either a settlement or a decision by a court or administrative agency. If the matter is being appealed, it will be noted below.

BioReference Health LLC, formerly known as BioReference Laboratories, Inc., (BioReference), and OPKO Health, Inc. (OPKO) have agreed to pay $9.85 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act arising from BioReference’s payment of above-market rents to physician landlords for office space in order to induce referrals from those physicians to BioReference. BioReference, a subsidiary of OPKO, is headquartered in New Jersey and is one of the largest clinical laboratories in the United States.

BioReference and OPKO have agreed to pay $9.85 million to resolve allegations that, between January 2013 and March 2021, BioReference made lease payments to physicians and physician groups for the rental of office space for amounts that exceeded fair market value, in violation of the Physician Self-Referral Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute.  The Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law, prohibits a health care provider from billing for certain services referred by physicians with whom the provider has a financial relationship, unless that relationship satisfies one of the law’s statutory or regulatory exceptions. The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering or paying remuneration to induce the referral of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid and certain other federally funded programs. Both the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute are intended to ensure that medical judgments are not compromised by improper financial inducements.

 The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.