Former drug lab owners settle with feds over fraud claims

CHARLOTTE (AP) — The owners of a former drug-testing lab in North Carolina have agreed to pay the federal government more than $7 million to settle claims that they fleeced taxpayers with fraudulent medical claims that involved urine tests.

The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday that the lab was the now defunct Physicians Choice Laboratory Services.

Federal prosecutors claimed that it offered kickbacks to physicians in exchange for referring patient urine samples for drug testing. Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Stetzer of Charlotte said the defendants damaged the credibility of drug testing.

The lab had opened in Charlotte in 2009 before moving to Rock Hill, South Carolina. It’s building was empty by 2017.