In a stunning betrayal of trust, Venice-based Sameday Health allegedly faked COVID test results for at least 500 customers and alongside partner Dr. Jeff Toll, M.D., will be paying for its sins to the tune of a total $26.45 million settlement.
The sweeping settlement was announced on Thursday morning by L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer. Sameday Technologies (doing business as Sameday Health) and its CEO Felix Huettenbach are to pay $22.5 for fake test results, false advertising and insurance fraud, while Dr. Jeff Toll, M.D. is to pay $3.9 million for his role in Sameday Health’s insurance fraud scheme.
As part of the settlement Huettenbach and Toll are prohibited from engaging in the unlawful activity alleged in the complaint and Huettenbach is forbidden from accessing test results or medical records of any Sameday Health customers. The company Sameday Health will be allowed to continue operating and there is no word yet on whether Huettenbach will be stepping down as CEO.
Sameday Health, is a healthcare start-up that launched in September 2020 with a single Venice testing center. It expanded at a ferocious pace to open 55 testing centers across the nation, including 16 in L.A. County, five in the City of LA and one in Santa Monica. In its short life the company has already made tens of millions in profit.
The complaint filed against Sameday Health alleges that the company promised to provide COVID test results within 24 hours, despite knowing that they could not always deliver on the commitment. The company is said to have sent at least 500 forged negative results by manipulating PDFs from prior tests when they were unable to process customers' tests in time.
In some instances, Sameday Health sent a negative result before tests were received by labs or processed by labs. The company even sent results for tests that were never processed.
“It’s beyond outrageous that anyone would falsify COVID tests, as we allege happened here. If you get a negative test, you assume it’s safe to go to work, visit family and friends, or take a vacation. But the victims of this alleged scheme might unknowingly have spread COVID to others or failed to receive timely and appropriate care themselves,” said LA City Attorney Mike Feuer.
Sameday Health was additionally accused of engaging in insurance fraud by giving customers paying for their COVID test with insurance unnecessary additional consultations and charging their insurers for the cost. This included two to three minute long telemedicine consultations for which insurance companies were charged $450 a pop.
Los Angeles-based doctor Jeff Toll administered these superficial consultations and allegedly provided Sameday Health with a significant portion of the profits in return for sending these customers to him.
Under the $26.45 total settlement Sameday Health and Huettenbach will pay over $9.5 million in restitution and almost $13 million in civil penalties, while Toll will pay $2.8 million in restitution and $1.15 million in civil penalties.
Feuer said he recommends Angelenos book COVID tests through Health Services of L.A. County or a trusted medical provider. A map of County and partner testing sites is available at dhs.lacounty.gov/covid-19/testing/.
Clara@smdp.com
Twitter: @_ClaraHarter
