LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The genetic-screening sales reps turn out at health fairs, houses of religion, parks and elder enclaves, offering seniors a chance to learn if they or their loved ones are at risk of developing cancer. All they need, the reps say, is a free cheek swab.
“We have investigations going on in this space across the country. It is not limited to one geographic region,” Richmond said in an interview. “This is touching every corner.” In the cases under review, investigators and patients told Reuters, marketers get elderly residents to turn over their Medicare or Medicaid information, along with their driver’s license and other identifying information, and tell them they will take a free cheek swab that can help them understand their risks of developing cancer or whether their genetics could unlock clues about how they will respond to drug treatments.
Investigators say genetic testing became a ready target thanks to advances in medical technology and a rise in the technique’s popularity. Companies such as 23&Me, which offers health-and-ancestry genetic tests directly to consumers for $199, have entered the mainstream. Their success, federal investigators say, has drawn the attention of scamsters looking to capitalize on the trend.
Putrah said she only participated because her grandmother had died of colon cancer and she was told the test would be paid for by Medicare. In July 2018, she contacted Medicare to raise concerns about her billing statement, and then in December 2018 she called the inspector general’s fraud hotline and forwarded supporting documents.
Janet Shaver, the current treasurer of the condo board where Putrah and Pallack participated in the cheek swabbing event, said the board’s leadership has since changed, but that she intends to follow up “to make as many people as possible aware of this.” But Medicare explanation-of-benefits statements, reviewed by Reuters, revealed that a lab in Arlington, Texas, called Spectrum Diagnostic Labs LLC had in two cases tried to charge Medicare more than $15,000 per patient, and received around $5,000.
Butman, the sales rep, said she later quit her job at MyDNACancerTesting. MedMolecular, the other company, later shut down its genetic testing business.
Why do old people need genetic testing
Genetic tests increased 100% since 1908 as well. Its a new, growing science
So much winning
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