LifeBrite Laboratories’ acquitted CEO, Christian Fletcher, is suing six payers for $1 billion, alleging a “smear campaign.” The lawsuit accuses the payers of making false allegations to avoid paying legitimate claims and damaging the company’s reputation. Fletcher seeks a jury trial and claims damages over allegations of billing fraud, despite being cleared of charges in a $1.4 billion fraud scheme. Payers named include Blue Cross Blue Shield, Anthem Insurance, UnitedHealth Group, and others.
LifeBrite Laboratories’ CEO, Christian Fletcher, who was acquitted in a $1.4 billion fraud scheme, has taken legal action by filing a lawsuit against six payers, seeking $1 billion in damages. The lawsuit alleges that these payers engaged in a deliberate “smear campaign,” making false accusations to regulatory authorities and prosecutors to evade payment for legitimate claims.
The accusations against Mr. Fletcher and nine others involved billing private insurance companies approximately $1.4 billion for laboratory claims as part of a billing scheme that occurred between November 2015 and February 2018. Allegedly, the defendants received $400 million for these claims. However, a jury acquitted Mr. Fletcher in March of charges related to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
The legal action, filed in Georgia state court, contends that the payers intentionally orchestrated a campaign to damage LifeBrite’s business and reputation, leading to damages exceeding $1 billion. The law firm representing Mr. Fletcher and the lab, Miller Barondess LLP, revealed this development in a news release on July 21.
The entities named in the lawsuit include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Healthcare Plan of Georgia, Elevance Health, Anthem Insurance, UnitedHealth Group, and CVS Health/Aetna. The lawsuit asserts that these insurance companies colluded to falsely depict LifeBrite’s dealings with hospitals as healthcare billing fraud, even though federal law allows for the practices in question. Furthermore, it accuses the payers of leveraging their relationships with regulators, law enforcement, and others to pursue legal action against LifeBrite and other labs, to avoid payment obligations.
Mr. Fletcher and LifeBrite Laboratories are seeking a jury trial to address their grievances and claim more than $1 billion in damages for the alleged harm caused by the payers’ actions.
