Quest Lab Worker Fails to Revive Billing Fraud Suit on Appeal

An appellate panel shut down a lawsuit from a compliance officer at Quest Diagnostics Inc. claiming the lab ran a fraudulent billing scheme for unnecessary tests.

The panel affirmed a lower court decision to dismiss relator Barbara Senters’ fourth amended complaint Wednesday because she “ultimately failed to plead a false claim with particularity” as required under the False Claims Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said Wednesday.

Senters alleged Quest billed the federal government for medically unnecessary tests that doctors unknowingly ordered. She claimed custom lab panels ...