Crescendo Bioscience, Myriad Must Face Blood Test Kickback Suit

A False Claims Act whistleblower adequately alleged that Crescendo Bioscience Inc. and Myriad Genetics Inc. engaged in kickback schemes involving a blood test to defraud Medicare and Medicaid, a California federal court said.

Whistleblower STF LLC sufficiently alleged that defendants, makers of a test that detects rheumatoid arthritis, violated the FCA by inducing doctors to use their tests by paying them five times the Medicare testing reimbursement amount, Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixon of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said Saturday.

STF also sufficiently accused defendants of engaging in a scheme whereby Crescendo agreed to ...