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Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

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California Clinical Laboratory Owners among 21 Defendants Indicted or Criminally Charged for COVID-19 Test Fraud and Other Schemes Totaling $214 Million

Federal agents allege ‘healthcare fraud abuses erode the integrity and trust patients have with those in the healthcare industry’

Here’s yet another example of how federal and state law enforcement agencies intend to further crack down on fraud involving COVID-19 testing, financial relief programs, vaccination cards, and other pandemic-related programs.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it has charged the owners of a Calif. clinical laboratory—as well as 19 other defendants—for their roles in fraudulent billing, kickbacks, and money laundering schemes to defraud Medicare of more than $214 million.

Imran Shams and Lourdes Navarro—owners of Matias Clinical Laboratory, Inc., in Baldwin Park, Glendale, Calif.—which was doing business as Health Care Providers Laboratory, Inc. (Matias)—were charged along with the other defendants with participating in fraud that took place in nine federal court districts.

The indictment alleges the pair paid kickbacks to marketers to obtain specimens and test orders. The lab company owners then laundered their profits through shell corporations in the US, transferred the money to foreign countries, and used it to purchase “real estate, luxury items, and goods and services for their personal use,” according to court documents.

“While millions of Americans were suffering and desperately seeking testing and treatment for COVID-19, some saw an opportunity for profit,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Kenneth A. Polite Jr., JD, during a news conference at the Justice Department, The New York Times reported.

“The actions of these criminals are unacceptable, and the FBI, working in coordination with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and pursue those who exploit the integrity of the healthcare industry for profit,” said Luis Quesada of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Criminal Investigative Division in a press release.

Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI

“Throughout the pandemic, we have seen trusted medical professionals orchestrate and carry out egregious crimes against their patients all for financial gain,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada (above) of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division in a DOJ press release. “These healthcare fraud abuses erode the integrity and trust patients have with those in the healthcare industry, particularly during a vulnerable and worrisome time for many individuals.” Clinical laboratories throughout the US should be aware of increased scrutiny to Medicare billing by the DOJ. (Photo copyright: El Paso Times.)

According to the DOJ’s Summary of Criminal Charges, “Matias” Clinical Laboratory also “performed and billed Medicare for urinalysis, routine blood work, and other tests, despite the fact that Shams had been excluded from all participation in Medicare for several decades.” The indictment alleges that Shams and Navarro fraudulently concealed Sham’s role in the clinical laboratory and his prior healthcare-related criminal convictions.

Navarro’s attorney, Mark Werksman, JD, Managing Partner at Werksman, Jackson and Quinn LLP, told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Navarro would plead not guilty to charges.

“She always tried to follow the law and provide appropriate and quality testing services to the laboratory’s patients. She looks forward to clearing her name in court,” Werksman said.

However, both Navarro and Shams have a checkered past with law enforcement agencies. According to a State of California Department of Justice news release, in 2000, the two were convicted in California on felony counts of Medi-Cal fraud, grand theft, money laundering, and identity theft for using the names of legitimate physicians without permission and filing thousands of false claims with the state for medical tests never performed.

The Calif. Attorney General’s Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse (DMFEA) seized approximately $1.1 million in uncashed warrants, which were returned to the Medi-Cal program. Since the 2000 case, Shams has been barred from filing for Medicare reimbursement, the New York Times reported.

Other Felony Indictments and Criminal Complaints for Healthcare Fraud

In a separate case, the DOJ announced Ron K. Elfenbein, MD, 47, of Arnold, Md., was charged by indictment with three counts of healthcare fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud the US of more than $1.5 million in claims that were billed in connection with COVID-19 testing. Elfenbein is owner and medical director of Drs Ergent Care, LLC, which operates as FirstCall Medical Center. Elfenbein allegedly told his employees to submit claims to Medicare and other insurers for “moderate-complexity office visits” even though the COVID-19 test patients’ visits lasted five minutes or less.

And in April, the DOJ filed a criminal complaint against Colorado resident, Robert Van Camp, 53, for allegedly forging and selling hundreds of fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, which he sold to buyers and distributors in at least a dozen states.  

“Van Camp allegedly told an undercover agent that he had sold cards to ‘people that are going to the Olympics in Tokyo, three Olympians and their coach in Tokyo, Amsterdam, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Honduras,’” the DOJ said in a news release, CNBC reported.

Van Camp also allegedly told that agent, “I’ve got a company, a veterinary company, has 30 people going to Canada every f— day, Canada back. Mexico is big. And like I said, I’m in 12 or 13 states, so until I get caught and go to jail, f— it, I’m taking the money, (laughs)! I don’t care,” the DOJ stated.

Clinical laboratory directors and pathologists know these fraud charges provide another example of how the misdeeds of a few reflect on the entire healthcare industry, potentially causing people to lose trust in organizations tasked with providing their healthcare. 

Andrea Downing Peck

Related Information:

Justice Department Announces Nationwide Coordinated Law Enforcement Action to Combat Healthcare-Related COVID-19 Fraud

Alleged Covid-19 Fraud Schemes Totaling $150 Million Draw Criminal Charges

Maryland Doctor Facing Federal Indictment for COVID-19 Healthcare Fraud Scheme Is Part of a Nationwide Coordinated Law Enforcement Action to Combat Health Care Related COVID-19 Fraud Announced by the Justice Department Today

Attorney General Lockyer Announces Four Arrests, Two Convictions in Crackdown on Medi-Cal Fraud by Blood Laboratories

U.S. Department of Justice: Summary of Criminal Charges

U.S. v. Imran Shams and Lourdes Navarro, aka ‘Lulu,’ Defendants

DOJ Announces $150 Million in COVID Health Fraud, Bogus Vaccination Prosecutions Nationwide

The Justice Department Charged 21 People over Coronavirus-Related Fraud Schemes

Maryland Doctor Facing Federal Indictment for COVID-19 Healthcare Fraud Scheme Is Part of a Nationwide Coordinated Law Enforcement Action to Combat Healthcare Related COVID-19 Fraud Announced by the Justice Department Today

EKRA Now Used to Combat Fraudulent COVID-19 Testing, Too

The Department of Justice steps beyond the law’s original focus on opioid-related lab testing fraud

An interesting aspect with enforcement of the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018 (EKRA) is the government’s willingness to go after charges tied to fraudulent COVID-19 testing. 

The case U.S. vs. Malena Badon Lepetich provides a good example of this approach. A grand jury indicted Lepetich on various healthcare fraud charges last year, including that she allegedly offered to pay kickbacks for referrals of specimens for COVID-19 testing.

“The government had really only used EKRA in the context of addiction treatment space,” attorney Alexander Porter, a Partner at law firm Davis Wright Tremaine in Los Angeles, said in the latest issue of The Dark Report. “The Lepetich case shows that the government’s going to use EKRA beyond that context and go into other areas where they think that it can be useful—in particular, in the area of COVID-19 testing.” 

Clinical laboratories and pathology groups should take note of this development.

Attorney Alexander Porter said EKRA enforcement now goes after fraudulent COVID-19 testing. (Photo: Davis Wright Tremaine)

Defendant Allegedly Filed $10 Million in Fraudulent Lab Claims

Lepetich was the owner of MedLogic, a clinical laboratory in Baton Rouge, La.

In addition to the fraudulent COVID-19 testing charges, she allegedly solicited and received kickbacks in exchange for referrals of urine specimens for medically unnecessary tests, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). 

The DOJ said Lepetich filed more than $10 million in laboratory test claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana for panels of expensive respiratory tests that were medically unnecessary. 

EKRA Provisions Rose from the Opioid Crisis in the U.S.

EKRA is a criminal law that falls under the Communities and Patients Act, which lifted restrictions on medications for opioid treatment and sought to limit overprescribing of opioid painkillers. Originally, EKRA targeted fraudulent practices at sober homes and substance abuse treatment centers. However, the final draft of the bill added clinical laboratories to the list of providers under potential scrutiny.

At the time Congress passed EKRA, the law was primarily aimed at fraudulent activity in opioid treatment centers, including related lab testing.

Thus, the government’s use of EKRA in the COVID-19 charges against Lepetich case is newsworthy and establishes a precedent, noted Porter. He’ll speak about EKRA at the 2022 Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management. The event takes place April 27-28 in New Orleans.

A contentious part of EKRA for clinical laboratories and pathology groups is that certain conduct protected under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute is treated as a criminal offense under EKRA. Some common lab practices come under that confusing designation, such as paying lab sales reps on a commission-based formula based on testing volumes they generate. 

—Scott Wallask

Related Information:

Labs Should Be Cautious About “Surprising” EKRA Ruling

DOJ Announces Coordinated Law Enforcement Action to Combat Healthcare Fraud Related to COVID-19

Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management

6 Impacts of EKRA on Laboratories, Clinics, and Other Treatment Facilities

Department of Justice Recovers $1.8B from Medical Laboratory Owners and Others Accused of Alleged Healthcare Fraud During COVID-19 Pandemic

It did not take long for fraudsters to pursue hundreds of billions of federal dollars designated to support SARS-CoV-2 testing and it is rare when federal prosecutors bring cases only a few months after illegal lab testing schemes are identified

As if the COVID-19 pandemic weren’t bad enough, unscrupulous clinical laboratory operators quickly sought to take advantage of the critical demand for SARS-CoV-2 testing and defraud the federal government.

Unfortunately for the many defendants in these cases, federal investigations into alleged cases of fraud were launched with noteworthy speed. As a result of these investigations into alleged healthcare fraud by clinical laboratories and other organizations during fiscal year (FY) 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the US government has recovered $1.8 billion.

The federal prosecutions involved dozens of medical laboratory owners and operators who paid back “hundreds of millions in alleged federal healthcare program losses,” Goodwin Life Sciences Perspectives explained.

The annual report of the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Justice Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC) reported that federal agencies found and prosecuted alleged healthcare fraud for unnecessary laboratory testing related to:

The HCFAC is a joint program of the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and DOJ, a CMS fact sheet explained.

Billions Recovered by HCFAC Program

When combined with similar efforts starting in prior years, the program has returned to the federal government and private individuals a total of $3.1 billion, the DOJ noted.

“In its 24th year of operation, the program’s continued success confirms the soundness of a collaborative approach to identify and prosecute the most egregious instances of healthcare fraud, to prevent future fraud and abuse, and to protect program beneficiaries,” the report states.

Graphic oh healthcare fraud

According to the graphic above, which is based on analysis by B2B research company MarketsandMarkets, “North America will dominate the healthcare fraud analytics market from 2020–2025.” As clinical laboratory testing represents a significant portion of the fraud, medical lab managers will want to remain vigilant. (Graphic copyright: MarketsandMarkets.)

COVID-19 Pandemic an Opportunity for Fraud

The HHS report notes that the COVID-19 pandemic required CMS to develop a “robust fraud risk assessment process” to identify clinical laboratory fraud schemes, such as offering COVID-19 tests in exchange for personal details and Medicare information.

“In one fraud scheme, some labs are targeting retirement communities claiming to offer COVID-19 tests but are drawing blood and billing federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary services,” the HHS report notes.

Still other alleged schemes involved billing for expensive tests and services in addition to COVID-19 testing. “For example, providers are billing a COVID-19 test with other far more expensive tests such as the Respiratory Pathogen Panel (RPP) and antibiotic resistance tests,” the report says.

“Other potentially unnecessary tests being billed along with a COVID-19 test include genetic testing and cardiac panels CPT (current procedural terminology) codes. Providers are also billing respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and dermatologic pathogen code sets with the not otherwise specified code CPT 87798,” the report states.

Different Types of Healthcare Organizations Investigated in 2020

Beyond clinical laboratories, the HHS’ 124-page report also shares criminal and civil investigations of other healthcare organizations and areas including:

  • clinics,
  • drug companies,
  • durable medical equipment,
  • electronic health records,
  • home health providers,
  • hospice care,
  • hospitals and healthcare systems,
  • medical devices,
  • nursing home and facilities,
  • pharmacies, and
  • physicians/other practitioners.  

According to the DOJ, “enforcement actions” in 2020 included:

  • 1,148 new criminal healthcare fraud investigations opened,
  • 440 defendants convicted of healthcare fraud and related crimes,
  • 1,079 civil healthcare fraud investigations opened, and
  • 1,498 pending civil health fraud matters at year-end.

“Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigative efforts resulted in over 407 operational disruptions of criminal fraud organizations and the dismantlement of the criminal hierarchy of more than 101 healthcare fraud criminal enterprises,” the DOJ reported. 

Furthermore, the report said OIG investigations in 2020 led to:

  • 578 criminal actions against people or organizations for Medicare-related crimes,
  • 781 civil actions such as false claims, and
  • 2,148 people and organizations eliminated from Medicare and Medicaid participation.

Implications for Clinical Laboratories

In 2020, OIG issued 178 reports, completed 44 evaluations, and made 689 recommendations to HHS divisions.

Clinical laboratory leaders may be most interested in those related to patient identification as a means to combating fraud and Medicare Part B lab testing reimbursement.

The HHS report says, “Medicare Advantage (MA) encounter data continue to lack National Provider Identifiers (NPIs) for providers who order and/or refer … clinical laboratory services,” adding that, “Almost half of MA organizations believe that using NPIs for ordering providers is critical for combating fraud.”

Additionally, the report states, “Medicare Part B spending for lab tests increased to $7.6 billion in 2018, despite lower payment rates for most lab tests. The $459 million spending increase was driven by:

  • “increased spending on genetic tests,
  • “ending the discount for certain chemistry tests, and the
  • “move to a single national fee schedule.”

Medical laboratory leaders may be surprised to learn that federal healthcare investigators were so vigorous in their investigations, even during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vigilance is critical to ensure labs do not fall under the DOJ’s scrutiny. This HHS report, which describes the types and dollars involved in fraudulent schemes by clinical labs and other providers, could help inform revisions to federal compliance regulations and statutes.

Donna Marie Pocius

Related Information

Annual Report of the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Justice Healthcare Fraud and Abuse Control (HCFAC) Program FY 2020

DOJ Recoups a Total of $1.8 Billion from Healthcare Fraud in 2020, Laboratory Recoupments Alone Account for Hundreds of Millions

Healthcare Fraud and Abuse Control Program Protects Consumers and Taxpayers by Combatting Healthcare Fraud

2020 National Health Care Fraud Takedown

Florida Nurse Practitioner Convicted for Involvement in $200 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme Involving Clinical Laboratory Tests, Other Procedures

Federal prosecutors allege that this nurse practitioner ordered more genetic tests for Medicare beneficiaries than any other provider during 2020

Cases of Medicare fraud involving clinical laboratory testing continue to be prosecuted by the federal Department of Justice. A jury in Miami recently convicted a nurse practitioner (NP) for her role in a massive Medicare fraud scheme for millions of dollars in medically unnecessary genetic testing and durable medical equipment. She faces 75 years in prison when sentenced in December.  

In their indictment, federal prosecutors alleged that from August 2018 through June 2021 Elizabeth Mercedes Hernandez, NP, of Homestead, Florida, worked with more than eight telemedicine and marketing companies to sign “thousands of orders for medically unnecessary orthotic braces and genetic tests, resulting in fraudulent Medicare billings in excess of $200 million,” according to a US Department of Justice (DOJ) news release announcing the conviction.

“Hernandez personally pocketed approximately $1.6 million in the scheme, which she used to purchase expensive cars, jewelry, home renovations, and travel,” the press release noted.

Hernandez was indicted in April 2022 as part of a larger DOJ crackdown on healthcare fraud related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Luis Quesada

“Throughout the pandemic, we have seen trusted medical professionals orchestrate and carry out egregious crimes against their patients all for financial gain,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada (above) of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, in a DOJ press release. Clinical laboratory managers would be wise to monitor these Medicare fraud cases. (Photo copyright: Federal Bureau of Investigation.)

Nurse Practitioner Received Kickbacks and Bribes

Federal prosecutors alleged that the scheme involved telemarketing companies that contacted Medicare beneficiaries and persuaded them to request genetic tests and orthotic braces. Hernandez, they said, then signed pre-filled orders, “attesting that she had examined or treated the patients,” according to the DOJ news release.

In many cases, Hernandez had not even spoken with the patients, prosecutors said. “She then billed Medicare as though she were conducting complex office visits with these patients, and routinely billed more than 24 hours of ‘office visits’ in a single day,” according to the news release.

In total, Hernandez submitted fraudulent claims of approximately $119 million for genetic tests, the indictment stated. “In 2020, Hernandez ordered more cancer genetic (CGx) tests for Medicare beneficiaries than any other provider in the nation, including oncologists and geneticists,” according to the news release.

The indictment noted that because CGx tests do not diagnose cancer, Medicare covers them only “in limited circumstances, such as when a beneficiary had cancer and the beneficiary’s treating physician deemed such testing necessary for the beneficiary’s treatment of that cancer. Medicare did not cover CGx testing for beneficiaries who did not have cancer or lacked symptoms of cancer.”

In exchange for signing the orders, Hernandez received kickbacks and bribes from companies that claimed to be in the telemedicine business, the indictment stated.

“These healthcare fraud abuses erode the integrity and trust patients have with those in the healthcare industry … the FBI, working in coordination with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and pursue those who exploit the integrity of the healthcare industry for profit,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Investigative Division, in the DOJ press release.

Conspirators Took Advantage of COVID-19 Pandemic

Prosecutors alleged that as part of the scheme, she and her co-conspirators took advantage of temporary amendments to rules involving telehealth services—changes that were enacted by Medicare in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The indictment noted that prior to the pandemic, Medicare covered expenses for telehealth services only if the beneficiary “was located in a rural or health professional shortage area,” and “was in a practitioner’s office or a specified medical facility—not at a beneficiary’s home.”

But in response to the pandemic, Medicare relaxed the restrictions to allow coverage “even if the beneficiary was not located in a rural area or a health professional shortage area, and even if the telehealth services were furnished to beneficiaries in their home.”

Hernandez was convicted of:

  • One count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud.
  • Four counts of healthcare fraud.
  • Three counts of making false statements.

Medscape noted that she was acquitted of two counts of healthcare fraud. The trial lasted six days, Medscape reported.

Hernandez’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 14.

Co-Conspirators Plead Guilty

Two other co-conspirators in the case, Leonel Palatnik and Michael Stein, had previously pleaded guilty and received sentences, the Miami Herald reported.

Palatnik was co-owner of Panda Conservation Group LLC, which operated two genetic testing laboratories in Florida. Prosecutors said that Palatnik paid kickbacks to Stein, owner of 1523 Holdings LLC, “in exchange for his work arranging for telemedicine providers to authorize genetic testing orders for Panda’s laboratories,” according to a DOJ press release. The kickbacks were disguised as payments for information technology (IT) and consulting services.

“1523 Holdings then exploited temporary amendments to telehealth restrictions enacted during the pandemic by offering telehealth providers access to Medicare beneficiaries for whom they could bill consultations,” the press release states. “In exchange, these providers agreed to refer beneficiaries to Panda’s laboratories for expensive and medically unnecessary cancer and cardiovascular genetic testing.”

Palatnik pleaded guilty to his role in the kickback scheme in August 2021 and was sentenced to 82 months in prison, a DOJ press release states.

Stein pleaded guilty in April and was sentenced to five years in prison, the Miami Herald reported. He was also ordered to pay $63.3 million in restitution.

These federal cases involving clinical laboratory genetic testing and other tests and medical equipment indicate a commitment on the DOJ’s part to continue cracking down on healthcare fraud.

—Stephen Beale

Related Information:

Nurse Practitioner Convicted of $200M Health Care Fraud Scheme

Florida Nurse Practitioner Convicted in $200 Million Medicare Scheme

Florida Nurse Convicted for Fraudulent Orders Billing Medicare for $200M

South Florida Nurse Convicted of Medicare Scheme for Approving $200 Million in Bogus Products

Justice Department Announces Nationwide Coordinated Law Enforcement Action to Combat COVID-19 Health Care Fraud

Laboratory Owner Pleads Guilty to $73 Million Medicare Kickback Scheme

Laboratory Owner Sentenced to 82 Months in Prison for COVID-19 Kickback Scheme

Scientists and Medical Professionals Face Huge Fees, Court Costs after Speaking at Certain COVID-19 Webinars

Little-known Polish company relied on suspect arbitration court to demand thousands of euros from conference speakers

Clinical laboratory and pathology professionals may want to heed the phrase “caveat emptor” (“let the buyer beware”) if invited to speak at events organized by little-known entities. That appears to be the lesson from a rather bizarre story coming out of Poland involving scholars from multiple countries who agreed to speak during a series of online COVID-19 webinars and who were later billed thousands of euros for their participation.

In “Costly Invite? Scientists Hit with Massive Bills after Speaking at COVID-19 ‘Webinars,’Science magazine reported that in 2020 and 2021, dozens of researchers were invited by a Polish company called Villa Europa to speak in a series of online conferences about modeling of COVID-19.

But months after the event, the organizer demanded payment for the researchers’ participation, and in some cases, turned to a Polish arbitration court to enforce the demand. But in a curious twist, the legitimacy of that court has itself been called into question.

“I was interested in the topic, and I agreed to participate,” Björn Johansson, MD, told Science. “I thought it was going to be an ordinary academic seminar. It was an easy decision for me.” Johansson, a physician and researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, has since “come to regret that decision,” the publication reported.

Villa Europa is now seeking €80,000 ($86,912 in current US dollars) from Johansson, including legal costs and interest, after turning to a Swedish court. Others have received demands for €13,000 to €25,000 ($14,123 to $27,156) in fees, late payment penalties, and court costs, Science reported.

Researchers Axel Brandenburg, PhD (left), and Björn Johansson, MD (right), are two of the 32 scholars from six countries who are now being billed thousands of euros for their participation in the Villa Europa COVID-19 modeling webinars. Pathology and clinical laboratory leaders who receive similar invitations may want to thoroughly read the contracts before agreeing to participate. (Photo copyright: Axel Brandenburg, Björn Johansson.)

How Did It All Happen?

According to Science, the ordeal began when an individual named Matteo Ferensby invited the scientists to speak at the webinars. His email signature indicated an affiliation with the University of Warsaw, but the university “has no employee by that name, according to the institution’s press office,” Science reported, adding that “there is no track record of scientific publications from a Matteo Ferensby.”

By one speaker’s count, the company produced at least 11 webinars between April 2020 and June 2021. “The speakers themselves—about 10 people in each session—were the only audience, but participants were told the recordings would be published open access afterward,” Science reported.

Ferensby did not disclose that speakers would be charged conference fees. In fact, one speaker was told explicitly that no fees would be requested, Science noted.

However, the speakers were later asked to sign a license agreement that would allow the organizer to publish the recordings. It included a clause on the last page stating that they would have to pay fees of €790 and €2785 (US$859 and $3,029) related to publication.

The financial amounts were written in words rather than numbers with no highlighting, according to Science, which reviewed some of the contracts.

“Many of the speakers, already busy studying COVID-19 and under pressure from the transition to remote teaching, did not notice these clauses,” Science reported. Said one speaker: “The contract was unreadable [but] I eventually sent it.”

Questionable Arbitration

Some of the webinar participants told Science that they later received altered versions of the contracts with “an additional page where the fees are made explicit, and [with] modified clauses, one of them stating that disputes can be settled by a Polish arbitration court.”

That court, identified as Pan-Europejski-Sąd-Arbitrażowy (Pan European Arbitration Court or PESA), apparently does not exist. Agnieszka Durlik, JD, Director General of The Arbitration Court at the Polish Chamber of Commerce, told Science that she had never heard of PESA, and it that appears Villa Europa set up the PESA website.

“In my opinion this is fraud,” Durlik said. Nevertheless, Villa Europa used alleged rulings by PESA to go after some of the speakers in their own local courts.

“For the researchers now under pressure from the courts, ignoring the demands is not an option,” Science reported. “They have all submitted court filings supporting their case.”

The speakers claim that “the demands are illegitimate and that they were deceived about what they were signing in the contracts,” Science noted. One speaker, Axel Brandenburg, PhD, of the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics (NORDITA), is awaiting a ruling in September, Science reported.

Warnings against Predatory Conferences

The story comes amid increasing concerns about so-called “predatory conferences,” in which scientists are invited under false pretenses to participate in what appear to be legitimate meetings.

“Would-be attendees should expect missing plenary speakers, multiple fields of research smashed together in a Frankenstein program, and an absence of the important academic rigor that fuels the conferences that scientists know and love,” wrote senior science writer Ruairi J. Mackenzie in Technology Networks. “The companies organizing these events are motivated by profit above all else.”

Mackenzie offered several tips to help both speakers and attendees spot fake conferences:

  • Examine the promotional materials. “Whether you are studying an unprompted email or a conference webpage, look for shoddy writing quality or outlandish layouts.”
  • Check with your colleagues. “The dominant conferences in your field are probably in that position because they have proved time and time again that they can deliver a valuable experience for attendees.”
  • Look at other conferences from the same producer. If a company produces a high volume of conferences on a wide range of topics, that can be a sign that the quality will be shoddy, he suggested.
  • Look at the contact information. A legitimate conference should have ties to an established society or conference organizer. Get the address, and then look at that location in Google Street View to see if it’s the kind of building where you’d expect a legitimate company to be located.

The experience of these 32 scientific and medical scholars demonstrates that there is always a new twist in how honest citizens can be defrauded. For that reason, clinical laboratory managers and pathologists should be wary when approached by unknown organizations with speaking invitations, particularly in Europe.

—Stephen Beale

Related Information:

Costly Invite? Scientists Hit with Massive Bills after Speaking at COVID-19 ‘Webinars.’

The Ultimate Guide to Avoiding Predatory Conferences

The Alarming Rise of Predatory Conferences

The Ethics Blog: Predatory Conferences

Arbitrarily Applied: Another COVID-19 Scam, This Time On Scientists

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