Gene-test fraud billed $2.1b to U.S. Medicare

Those charged included nine doctors.

In what prosecutors are calling one of the biggest health-care frauds in history, Medicare was fraudulently billed $2.1b after seniors were enticed to take unnecessary genetic tests for cancer. The Justice Department said that 35 defendants associated with telemedicine companies and cancer genetic testing labs had been charged with fraud.

Fraudsters preyed on people's fears of harboring genetic markers for cancer. Bills to Medicare connected with the scam typically ranged from $7,000 to $12,000. Since 2007, a Medicare fraud task force has filed more than 1,600 cases against almost 3,500 defendants who are alleged to have fraudulently billed Medicare more than $13 billion.