The Florida Attorney General’s Office has successfully secured over $350,000 for the state’s Medicaid program from QOL Medical, LLC and its CEO, Frederick E. Cooper. This resolution follows allegations of a kickback scheme involving the pharmaceutical company. QOL Medical is a Delaware-based company with its main operations in Florida, known for selling therapies like Sucraid for rare diseases.
The agreement addresses claims that QOL paid remuneration to promote the purchase of Sucraid, violating several statutes including the Anti-Kickback Statute and both federal and state False Claims Acts. Acting Attorney General John Guard stated, “This pharmaceutical manufacturer misled patients on its test kits and caused the submission of false claims to Medicaid. However, thanks to the superb and diligent work of our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and partners in this case, the company and CEO are paying up now hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
QOL admitted that starting in 2018, it provided free Carbon-13 breath test kits to healthcare providers for patients with gastrointestinal symptoms. The company claimed these tests could determine Congenital Sucrase Isomaltase Deficiency (CSID), though they do not specifically diagnose CSID. Despite this limitation, QOL paid a clinical laboratory to analyze these tests without cost to providers or patients.
Between 2018 and 2022, more than 75,000 C13 tests were conducted by the lab at QOL’s expense. The results were used by QOL’s sales team to identify potential Sucraid users among healthcare providers whose patients tested positive on these breath tests.
From May 1, 2018, through June 30, 2022, false claims were submitted to Medicaid due to payments made by QOL to both laboratories and beneficiaries as part of this scheme.
This settlement arose from a whistleblower lawsuit filed in Massachusetts’ U.S. District Court. Negotiations involved representatives from multiple states including Florida.
The Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit continues its efforts against fraudulent practices affecting Medicaid funds while also addressing patient abuse within facilities funded by Medicaid.
The unit operates with funding from a grant amounting to $30 million for Federal Fiscal Year 2025 provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General.
