Attorney General Josh Stein Announces $625,000 Health Care Fraud Settlement

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Contact:
Nazneen Ahmed (919) 716-0060

(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein announced a $625,000 settlement with Dr. Eric Troyer of Landis and his medical practice, Troyer Medical Inc, P.C. over alleged laboratory kickback schemes. This money will be returned to state and federal health care programs - $429,254 to the federal government and $195,746 to the state of North Carolina.

"Doctors need to make decisions based on what's best for their patients, not based on what puts more money back in their own pockets," said Attorney General Josh Stein. "I'm pleased that these funds are being returned to the people. My office will not allow health care providers to waste taxpayer resources."

From August 2015 to November 2021, Dr. Troyer and his medical practice allegedly received thousands of dollars in kickbacks from a laboratory in Anderson, South Carolina, for sending referrals to that laboratory. The kickbacks were allegedly disguised as an analyzer, office space rental, and phlebotomy payments.

The alleged kickbacks resulted in the submission of false or fraudulent laboratory testing claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE in violation of the False Claims Act. Dr. Troyer and his practice have agreed to cooperate with the United States Department of Justice's investigations of other participants in the alleged schemes.

The United States Department of Justice, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina, the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Medicaid Investigations Division of the North Carolina Attorney General's Office investigated the allegations and participated in the settlement negotiations.

About the Medicaid Investigations Division (MID)

The Attorney General's MID investigates and prosecutes health care providers that defraud the Medicaid program, patient abuse of Medicaid recipients, patient abuse of any patient in facilities that receive Medicaid funding, and misappropriation of any patients' private funds in nursing homes that receive Medicaid funding.

To date, the MID has recovered more than $1 billion in restitution and penalties for North Carolina. To report Medicaid fraud or patient abuse in North Carolina, call the MID at 919-881-2320. The MID receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $8,535,748 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2024. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $2,845,248 for FY 2024, is funded by the State of North Carolina.

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