National Addiction Treatment Center to Pay $4.5 Million in First-Of-Its-Kind Settlement of Laboratory Self-Referral Violations & Claims of Unnecessary Drug Tests

BUSINESS AS USUAL? –

Dec. 30, 2021 – These allegations against CleanSlate were originally made in a case filed in April 2017 under the whistleblower (or qui tam) provision of the False Claims Act by a former employee of CleanSlate. The Act permits private parties to sue for fraud on behalf of the government, and it also permits federal and state governments to intervene in such actions, as Massachusetts has done in this case, which is captioned U.S. et al. ex rel. Wendy Welch v. CleanSlate Centers, Inc., et al.; Civil Action No. 17-CV-30038-MGM (D. Mass.).

CleanSlate owns and operates many opioid treatment centers in Massachusetts and around the country, where individuals receive medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorders. Locations in Massachusetts include Athol, Boston, Falmouth, West Springfield, and Worcester. CleanSlate also owns and operates an independent clinical laboratory in Holyoke where it performs tests of clinical specimens for its patients.

Under the terms of the AG’s settlement agreement, CleanSlate and Dr. Wilson will pay a total of $3.2 million to MassHealth. CleanSlate will also enter into an independent compliance program with annual audits that will be reported to the AG’s Office. Dr. Wilson also agreed to separately make a payment of $8,000 to the Western Mass Training Consortium, an independent nonprofit organization that provides support to organizations that facilitate addiction recovery. Under the terms of the agreement with the USAO, CleanSlate and Dr. Wilson agreed to pay an additional $1.3 million to settle all claims involving Massachusetts Medicare members.