Atlanta GI practice to pay $4.75M for kickbacks, unnecessary testing; new blood test may improve early Alzheimer’s diagnoses; rectal cancer rates rise – Morning Medical Update

Atlanta GI practice to pay $4.75M over kickbacks, unnecessary testing claims

Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates has agreed to pay $4.75 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by receiving unlawful kickbacks tied to pathology referrals and billing for medically unnecessary gastrointestinal testing. Federal officials allege the practice partnered with an Arkansas-based lab — Advanced Pathology Solutions (APS) — to operate an in-office pathology facility, receiving benefits in exchange for exclusive referrals, while also using an automatic “reflex” process to order special stains without documented medical necessity. The practice and lab ended their relationship in 2020. The settlement resolves allegations only, with no admission of liability.

“As recent headlines across the country have made us all too aware, fraud against the American taxpayer through health care fraud is rampant,” said U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Ross for the Eastern District of Arkansas. “We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to identify and eliminate fraud of every kind wherever we find it and also to seek the recovery of tax dollars that were wrongfully paid.”

New blood test may improve early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s

A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study published in Nature Aging has identified a new class of blood-based Alzheimer’s biomarkers that measure structural changes in proteins rather than simply their levels. Researchers analyzed plasma samples from 520 participants and used mass spectrometry and machine learning to detect disease-linked protein misfolding patterns associated with genetic risk, symptom severity and sex differences. A three-protein panel — C1QA, CLUS and ApoB — accurately distinguished Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment and healthy controls, and tracked disease progression over time.

Rectal cancer rates rise — now one-third of all colorectal cancer diagnoses

Rectal cancer rates are rising in the U.S., driving an overall increase in colorectal cancer among adults under 65, according to the American Cancer Society’s latest report, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Nearly half (45%) of new colorectal cancer cases now occur in people younger than 65 — up from 27% in 1995 — while rates continue to decline in adults 65 and older. Rectal cancers have increased 1% per year since 2018 and now account for 32% of all colorectal cancer diagnoses, up from 27% in the mid-2000s. Overall incidence is rising 3% annually in adults ages 20 to 49 and 0.4% in those 50 to 64, even as it falls 2.5% per year in seniors. Researchers say the reasons remain unclear but emphasize earlier screening, now recommended starting at age 45. NBC News has more.