Dianon Systems Inc. is paying $1.5 million to resolve a whistleblower”™s claim the diagnostic lab conducted more cancer tests than necessary on tissue samples sent by Medicare and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Dianon is located in Stratford and is a subsidiary of Burlington, N.C.-based Laboratory Corporation of America Inc.
Dr. James Tiesinga was employed as a Dianon pathologist in 2001 and 2002. Tiesinga said after Medicare cut by a third the amount it pays for a certain diagnostic test, Dianon correspondingly tripled the number of tests it performed on samples, regardless of whether all of the tests were medically necessary.
In all, the government alleged Dianon made more than 10,000 improper reimbursement claims between 1996 and 2004.
Under the False Claims Act, Tiesinga will receive $300,000 of the Dianon payment.
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