The U.S. Department of Justice announced on July 24 that Admera Health LLC, a New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical research and clinical laboratory testing company, agreed to pay $5,389,648 to resolve kickback allegations brought by two whistleblowers under the False Claims Act (FCA).

Admera provides biopharmaceutical research services for healthcare institutions and provided clinical laboratory testing services to healthcare providers until 2021. The whistleblowers, who co-founded a third-party marketing company used by Admera, alleged that from 2014 to 2021, Admera paid volume- and value-based commissions to independent contractor marketers for generating referrals for genetic testing services. The arrangement violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), which prohibits offering or paying remuneration in return for arranging for or recommending items or services covered by federally funded healthcare programs.

As part of the settlement, Admera admitted that it paid millions of dollars in commissions to third-party marketers through arrangements that took into account the volume and value of the referrals, and that Admera knew that the payments violated the AKS.

The whistleblowers, Sunil Wadhwa and Ken Newton, will receive $862,343 as their share of the settlement proceeds.