Bob Thomas Discusses Genetic Testing Fraud For CBS News Investigation

September 13, 2019

Whistleblower Law Collaborative co-founder Bob Thomas sits down with CBS news’ Jim Axelrod to discuss a massive medicare genetic testing scam.  Recruiters convince seniors to submit a DNA sample for a “free” genetic cancer test. Medicare is billed thousands of dollars. But the tests are unnecessary and many patients never receive any results.

Bob Thomas, a former federal prosecutor, helped explain how the labs, recruiters, and doctors work together to drive the scam.  He explained how scammers lure in labs with a promise to triple their revenue.

“Once they’ve secured the saliva sample and the Medicare card, they shop it around to labs,” he said. “The biggest problem here is kickbacks, because the sales force is going out there to the lab saying ‘Hey, I’ll get you more business, but you gotta cut me in on it.’ That’s not the way medicine should work.

Bob also addressed some of the damage this fraud does to the seniors themselves.”

“And it’s tragic in some ways because these people aren’t going to get two bites at this apple. If five years from now they need a legitimate genetic test, they are going to have lost their opportunity.”

As astute readers of this blog will note, Bob has been sounding the alarm on this scam for some time now.

The CBS News genetic testing fraud piece featuring Bob Thomas can be found here.

Part one of the series focusing on how recruiters obtain patients can be found here.

If you have information about any Medicare or government health program fraud, please contact us.