Genetics lab payed doctors up to $144,000 annually to push unnecessary tests, employees claim

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For doctors, the brochure from a California medical laboratory sounded like easy money: $30 for every person enrolled in a study of genetic tests meant to help select the best pain medication for each patient. A typical physician could make $144,000 a year in “research fees.”

But the clinical trial was largely a ploy to boost Proove Biosciences’s revenues, and many of the doctors who signed up did no actual work, say current and former employees.

Proove has grown rapidly by tapping into the public angst over surging opioid addiction. It is one of many companies touting personalized DNA-based tests backed by little or no credible scientific data showing their reliability.

A STAT investigation found that Proove employees stationed in physicians’ offices pushed unnecessary tests on patients…and they sometimes completed research evaluation forms on behalf of doctors, rating the tests as highly effective when they weren’t…There was scant evidence, said the company’s former chief scientist, that the tests improved patient outcomes.

[Proove CEO Brian] Meshkin declined an interview request and responded to only one of many written questions. In an emailed statement, he said, “Proove is acting within the confines of the law … [and intends] to follow both the letter and spirit of the law.”

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: It’s easy money: Lab offers doctors up to $144,000 a year to push dubious genetic tests, employees say

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