LabCorp has been sued and is under Federal investigation for Medicaid and Medicare fraud.  In addition, it’s under scrutiny by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee who is investigating Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Laboratory Corporation of America was ordered to hand over its financial records to the U.S. Senate.

A lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Federal government that claims LabCorp operated a “pull-through” scheme to force doctors covered by insurers to use LabCorp for all medical testing. The suit claims LabCorp (NYSE: LH) offered illegal discounts to doctors in exchange for referring all their patients who need laboratory testing to the company.  According to federal anti-kickback laws, it’s illegal for health care companies to directly or indirectly compensate other parties to encourage them to order any service paid for by the federal health care programs.

Under federal law, companies can’t charge or participate in the Medicare or Medicaid program if they violate federal laws. The suit claims LabCorp charged Medicaid and Medicare more than $1 billion, which is about 20% of the companies total income. If LabCorp is found guilty they will not be allowed to conduct lab tests on anyone covered by Medicaid and Medicare, which is a large portion of LabCorps testing income.

On other news, LabCorp secured a new credit line of $1 billion. What a coincidence.

LabCorp is being sued for allegedly violating the civil rights of an employee who complained about a supervisor’s racial remarks.

James Litomisky filed suit against Laboratory Corp. of America on June 27 in federal court of New Orleans. In the lawsuit, Litomisky argues he was terminated from his employment with LabCorp in retaliation for his objecting to, opposing, and refusing to cooperate with LabCorp’s discrimination against its employees with respect to the terms and conditions of their employment on the basis of their race.

Specifically, Litomisky alleges his supervisor made racist remarks regarding African American LabCorp employees. He objected to this language and complained to the human resource department. He was told the employees who were the butt of the racial comments must file complaints in writing on the proper forms for any action to be taken.

Less than a month later, he was placed on a performance improvement plan, allegedly in retaliation for his complaints about the discriminatory behavior. Litomisky also argues that his supervisor directed him to falsify quarterly performance management reviews of two African-American employees so that his supervisor could terminate them. Initially, he complied with the directive, but the next day he informed human resources of the incident and corrected the reviews. He was terminated from his position in October 2010, the lawsuit says.

The defendant is accused of violating the Louisiana Human Rights Act and the Louisiana Whistleblower Act. The plaintiff is seeking damages for back pay, reinstatement or in lieu of reinstatement, front pay, compensatory damages including medical expenses, pecuniary damages, damages for emotional distress, lost wages and benefits, punitive damages and attorney’s fees.

Here’s an email that we received from a LabCorp patient, or should we say a former patient.

I’m too beat down to go into all the ways labcorp sucks. However, after 1.5 hours I went somewhere else with out a test. Thank you for having this venue to vent my frustrations–Steve.

Here’s another email from another patient who will never step into a LabCorp center again.

LABCORPS SUCKS BIGTIME!!! Yep I’m sick of it… Filing a complaint w/ my employer..

Peter

The purpose of a LabCorp appointment is so that you do not have to wait too long when you go to the LabCorp Service Center for clinical lab services. LabCorp used to not take appointments and after Quest successfully implemented the appointment program, LabCorp followed suit and offers appointments through their LabCorp.com website.

I recently received an email from Brian who claims that LabCorp appointments don’t seem to matter to LabCorp service center employees. Here’s his LabCorp appointment story:

LabCorp test results should show that my PSA level is dropping…..if they are accurate. I went to my doctor’s office today. His assistant drew blood and I provided a urine sample. Last time the urine specimens were lost by LabCorp, so I want to see what happens to them this time. I say specimens because I provided two different urine samples and BOTH were lost by LabCorp.

After my doctor’s visit last time I waited for over 10 days to get LabCorp test results. After the extensive wait, no results were available. The doctor couldn’t figure out what happened to the urine samples after LabCorp took them. His office called LabCorp but no one could find them or provide an answer as to why there were no test results. They did however provide the results for the blood test.

If you have 3 specimens and you only provide test results for one of them, you’re only 33.3% reliable. That’s way too low for a health care related test that is used by a doctor to determine the next course of action.

PSA tests are common for men. A Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Test measures the level of PSA in the blood. A blood sample is sent to the laboratory and the amount of PSA in the blood is measured. PSA is produced by prostate cells and the levels in the body can be used to detect disease.

When PSA levels are elevated it’s important for the doctor to find out why. The levels could be high for many reasons, from a bacterial infection to a tumor or cancer in the prostate. So when a standard blood test at my cardiologist showed high PSA levels I got concerned. The first thing I noticed is that even though the blood was drawn in my doctor’s office, it was sent to Lab Corp to be analyzed. It’s the only lab he uses so I had no choice but to use LabCorp. He immediately told me to go see a Urologist.

There’s only one Urologist that I felt comfortable with, Dr. Bejany in the University of Miami Clinic building. He is not only a friend, but one of the best Urologists in Miami, Florida.

Within a few days I was in his office with the original LabCorp test results showing elevated PSA levels. While he reviewed the results I told him that the test could have been faulty and that I am not confident in the results because it was performed by LabCorp. He said that it’s possible so he had his staff draw blood for another PSA test. I immediately noticed that his office also uses Laboratory Corporation of America for PSA tests.

The doctor wanted to rule out bacterial infections so he had me fill a cup with urine. That was also marked to be sent to LabCorp. I was then moved into an exam room where he performed a digital exam. After the physical exam he requested that I do a second urine test. From the time of the first test to the second one I had ample time to drink plenty of water. I once again filled another cup of urine and after I gave it to his nurse, she marked that one for LabCorp as well. So far so good as the tests went.

After a week I called the doctors office to see what the test results showed. The nurse on the phone was baffled and kept me on hold for a few minutes. She searched all her files but was unable to provide results. She explained that the person in the office who handled the test was out for the day and that she couldn’t find any of my results. She requested that I call the next day when she’s in the office. That was yesterday.

Today I eagerly called to get the results. As anyone with the possibility of having a life-altering disease can tell you, every day without results feels like a month. The receptionist on the phone checked my file and put me on hold. I was on hold for a few minutes when she returned and said that she was checking with someone else in the office about my results. After being on hold for another 4 minutes she answered that she was still looking for the PSA test results and once again put me on hold. Knowing the efficiency of this doctor I started to get concerned about what the results showed.

A few minutes went by and the doctor picked up the phone. He told me that the PSA blood test showed my PSA levels dropping since the first PSA test, but they were still above medically acceptable levels. I asked about the possibility of a bacterial infection versus a tumor or cancer and his response was something I was concerned about, the urine tests inexplicably showed no results. It had to happen to me AGAIN, LabCorp screwed up. LabCorp either lost or failed to process both of my urine samples.

Could it be that they intentionally threw out the samples because they know I’m the author of LabCorpSucks.com? That would take too much thinking on their part. From the way they run their operation, it would be giving them too much undeserved credit. Could it be that they just outright SUCK. That makes more sense to me. They not only lost one, but two urine samples. Talk about incompetence.

The doctor decided that it didn’t make sense to have me come in again for another urine test and wait another week. He prescribed antibiotics just in case a bacteria was causing the increased PSA levels. I was then requested to come in next month for another PSA blood test to see if the antibiotics resolved the problem. He was clearly frustrated at the LabCorp PSA test results, or should I say lack thereof. I wasn’t as I know that LabCorp sucks!

I received a very disturbing email from a lady who was sent to LabCorp for a urine test. This is a fairly simple process regulated by federal guidelines as it can cause the loss of employment if not properly administered. In this case it never got to that point. She complains that after sitting in the waiting room for over one and a half hours, she was asked to leave without being able to provide her urine sample.

Customer service is an important part of every business. When you have a customer waiting inside a facility and he or she has been in a facility for an extended period of time, it is common courtesy to provide the service before closing. In this case, they just chased all the customers out. It is without a doubt one of the worst violations of customer service principles that I have seen. I’m fairly confident that even poorly trained LabCorp managers would object to the actions of their employees in this case. If they do something about it, now that’s a different story. Here’s the email I received:

I was sent there (Labcorp) by an employer for a urine test. I sat there for over 1 1/2 hours (well before 4p.m). The woman came out and announces “all of you here for “P-Test” have to return on Monday, we are not doing anymore today.” I told her look,I have to have this done today in order to start work…her reply was that’s not our problem….WTF…

I have all of my certifications for phlebotomy ……Those employees are rude,hateful and just out right nasty. They are the laziest people I have ever seen.

Thanks,

F.Kim

In reference to our previous post “LabCorp Locations in Northern California“, a former LabCorp employee sent me an email that explains part of the problems at the LabCorp Patient Service  Centers:

Now I just wanted to say it is true that a location with low volume of patients only require one PST (Patient Service Tech), but what does low volume mean?  40-60 patients?

While being at LabCorp for a short time, I was told that one location received high volume (~300 patients) which required 6 PSTs.  Now I worked at a hospital before and we each phlebotomist draws around 35-40 patients a day (about 300-400 patients a day)  so does that mean 40-60 patients at a LabCorp PSC equals low volume?  

Somehow, I think LabCorp PSTs forget that at a hospital outpatient blood draw room, there is a receptionist that processes all the requisitions, prints out labels, copies, fax, and handles inquiries.  The phlebotomists at a hospital draw blood [and then maybe process specimens and paperwork on their next rotation].  LabCorp PSTs on the other hand have to also do the receptionist side of the work during their 8 hour shift.  Having one PST at a “low volume” location is definitely understaffed when you think about the paperwork and LCM entries they have to also make just so that patients don’t wait over 15 minutes.

And one more thing. There are a lot of grumpy PSTs that’s been at LabCorp and say they love it there. Little do you know they put on a smiley face when dealing with patients (hence why patients love them) and when patients are gone, they complain and talk crap about them.  Why do they love LabCorp?  Because there’s no supervisor or someone higher up on-site to watch mistakes going on.  You can practically never ever wash your hands or wear gloves, stick a patient more than the allowed 2 times, and do manipulate the time clock system and get away with it.  Me?  I can’t stand this sort of unprofessionalism hence why I left quick-fast.

I received a letter from Marlayna who works at a LabCorp location in the northern California area. She espouses the positives of the LabCorp patient service center she works at. Anyone from Northern California feel the same way? Let us know your opinion.

Here’s what she has to say:

In Northern CA, LabCorp is a preferred provider for United Healthcare. 80% of the patients that I see in a day have United Healthcare. We also do accept Aetna insurance. LabCorp offers the cheapest lab rates to patients. If you were to pay cash for your tests, the cheapest you would find would be LabCorp. The price that is billed to insurance companies just depends on what they are contracted for. 

Also, at most sites in this area, only one phlebotomist is working. When a location does not receive a high volume of patients, only one technician is necessary. Anything more than that would be wasteful. It is not an under staffing issue, it is just a simple supply and demand. I work for LabCorp and I love it here, and most all of my patients love me.  

LabCorp’s false positive HIV mistake will have long-lasting impact on Jim’s life. Here’s the email he sent me:

My wife and I cannot not have children on our own. That was devastating when we found out and it changed the course of our lives. Having babies is free right? Should be easy, right? Or so I thought.

Now, we were searching for solutions. Regardless of the sad news of us not able to conceive, we decided on egg donation. The reason why is so that my wife and I can experience the beauty of the birth experience. We also wanted to experience the joy of watching as a baby emerge from her womb, crying for protection, then quieting down when being cradled in my arms.

None of that would happen now. We used the services of Dr. Aykut Bayrak at the Pacific Reproductive Center in Glendale, Ca.  When getting ready for IVF the donor must go through a series of blood test, one of them is HIV.

We had selected our donor from a website. I wanted my wife to select someone who looked just like her. We found a beautiful young lady named Amber, who looked like my wife when she in her 20’s. We thought we could not lose with Amber because she was an experienced donor, whose contributions resulted in several infants. We were excited and confident.

Then Labcorb came into the picture. When Amber’s blood test was given to Lab Corp for HIV testing the result came back ‘positive’. At first we were shocked!  With a result of being HIV resulted her being automatically canceled as our donor. So what is the real problem here. SHE WAS NOT HIV POSITIVE! When she re-took the test it showed that she was HIV negative. We were relieved for Amber, but the Lab Corp result cost us a couple thousand of dollars for Amber’s tests, medicine, and care during this process. All for naught. Because of Federal rules that any donor who tests positive for HIV cannot donate their eggs, even if she test HIV negative later.

So we were forced to search for another donor. We found one whose eggs eventually failed to produce. Amber was the perfect donor since she was experienced and had proven results. The donor was someone not experienced. With the second donor we ‘ordered’ the Dr. Bayrak not to use Lab Corp. If he refused, we would have fired him on the spot and simply found another fertility clinic to work with. He complied and another lab was used.

The Lab Corp result may not have directly resulted in us not having children (so far), but three things for sure.

(1) We lost a perfectly good donor in Amber,

(2) We had to financially start over with the same test, medicine, and care for the new donor,

(3) It crushed our spirit.

I will be sure to request any lab professional I deal with, from my doctor or any social worker, that if Lab Corp is involved in their testing, we will simply walk away.

Jim