ABINGDON, Va. (WJHL) — The owner of a drug screening lab has been sentenced after pleading guilty to one felony count of healthcare fraud.
A U.S. District Court judge in Abingdon sentenced Regan Dube of Johnson City, Tennessee to three years of probation, four months of home detention, and 400 hours of community service.
Dube, along with her husband Michael, formerly owned Johnson City-based American Toxicology Labs (ATL), which conducted urine screens for organizations that represented themselves to be opioid treatment facilities.
The U.S. Department of Justice says Medicare, Virginia Medicaid, Kentucky Medicaid, and TennCare made payments to ATL totaling about $8.5 million between May 2014 and January 2020.
According to investigators, Michael Dube pleaded guilty in 2011 to intentionally omitting information from reports that are required under the Controlled Substances Act and, as a result, was excluded from participating in any federal healthcare programs.
“Nonetheless, in May 2013, Michael and Regan Dube established American Toxicology Labs [ATL] in Johnson City, Tennessee, with Regan Dube serving as the company’s registered agent, and using the couple’s home address as the principal office and mailing address,” the Department of Justice said in a news release. “ATL then applied to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. On the applications, Regan Dube was listed as the owner of ATL, and Michael Dube’s name and participation in ATL was omitted.”
Investigators also accused Michael Dube of receiving kickback payments from third parties for referring individuals to those third parties.
Michael pleaded guilty to two felony counts of health care fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 11, 2021.
The Dubes will have to pay $9,015,046 plus interest, which will be divided between special assessments, fines, restitution, and forfeiture. They will have to repay all of the money they received from Medicare and Medicaid programs.
