Genetic Technological Innovations, LLC (GTI), a diagnostic laboratory headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, agreed to pay the United States $1.635 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). The government alleges that GTI knowingly submitted claims to Medicare for respiratory pathogen panels (RPPs) that were either medically unnecessary or obtained through kickbacks. Specifically, the US alleges that on June 5, 2020, GTI entered into a Marketing Services Agreement (MSA) with a purported infection prevention company (The Company). Under the terms of the MSA, the marketing company agreed to provide “marketing-and-management services” on behalf of GTI within long-term care facilities. In exchange, under the terms of the MSA, GTI agreed to pay the marketing company $4,000 to $4,500 per month for each long-term care facility it “serviced.” According to the US, in reality, the MSA served as a pretext for paying the company for laboratory test referrals that GTI then billed to Medicare. The US alleges that GTI’s payments to The Company for referrals violated the Anti-kickback statute.