Information and Alerts

Alert

BBB is warning consumers to
exercise caution when doing business with companies that offer genetic cancer
screenings and other DNA testing through direct solicitation.

Further, BBB has reason to believe
that Genexe Health was until recently involved in this industry. The company previously declined to answer questions or provide requested information to BBB on the
subject, although on October 1, 2019, Genexe Health’s general counsel provided a statement on the matter:

Genexe is a marketing services company that no longer furnishes services
to clinical laboratories. While we still operated in that industry, we did so
with the highest standards of compliance and within the parameters that our
clients set for us. While we are saddened to learn of anyone who has not
received medical information they may be entitled to receive, our company
has never performed any analysis of any patient samples, or
billed Medicare for any such testing. If any medical company has failed to
provide its patients a service they were promised and for which they requested
the government pay, that is unacceptable. However, Genexe played no part in
this process.

A CBS News story on September 12, 2019 titled Genetic testing scam preys on seniors’ cancer fears and may be costing taxpayers millions told the
story of a retired Texas couple who alleged that after being sold genetic testing marketed by Genexe Health, their
Medicare accounts were billed over $18,000 in total for genetic testing. The couple further alleged that they never received their test results.

According to Senior Medicare Patrol, the following
are examples of genetic testing fraud, which is often designed to fraudulently
bill victims’ Medicare accounts:

• A company
  offering you “free” testing without a treating physician’s order and then
  billing Medicare. These tests go by many names and claim to test for many
  things. Here are some examples of ways you may see this advertised:
  

• Cancer
  screening / test
  
• DNA
  screening / test
  
• Hereditary
  cancer screening / test
  
• Dementia
  screening / test
  
• Parkinson’s
  screening / test
  
• Pharmacogenomics
  – medication metabolization
  

• A company
  providing a test or screening that you never requested or that you do not
  need
  

• A company
  billing Medicare for screening services that are not covered by Medicare
  or for screenings that do not apply to you
  

• A company
  requesting your Medicare number at a community event, a local fair, a
  farmer’s market, a parking lot, and or any other event
  

The following are recent
government warnings regarding genetic testing fraud:

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General
  
• Federal Trade Commission
  
• Senior Medicare Patrol

And the following are recent news articles
on the topic:

• AARP
  
• Bloomberg
  
• Kaiser Health News
  
• Stat News (Boston Globe media)

On July 11, 2019, BBB requested the following information of
Genexe Health, which the company declined to provide, stating that BBB’s
questions concerned Genexe’s proprietary information, unreasonably sought
information, and were overbroad, unnecessary, and harassing:

• A description (and any relevant documentation) of Genexe, LLC’s corporate relationship to Immerge, LLC.
  
• A brief
  description of the products or services Genexe Health offers.
  
• The names,
  contact information, and locations of the laboratories where the DNA
  samples Genexe Health collects are analyzed.
  
• Training
  materials presented to employees whose job it is to offer consumers DNA
  testing and collect samples. Additionally, what steps are taken to oversee
  whether employees follow the requirements outlined in this training?
  
• A
  description of what patients (or their physicians) are required to provide
  before purchasing Genexe Health’s products or services.
  
• Do
  you require a licensed physician to sign off on the DNA tests Genexe
  Health offers? If so, is this the patient’s physician, or your own
  third-party physician? Please describe the contact this physician has with
  the patients before or after testing.
  
• Is
  the patient responsible for any costs not paid for by insurance/Medicare,
  including any deductible?
  
• Any
  licenses or certifications held by Genexe Health. 
  
• A
  description of any patient/client information that is shared with third
  parties. Alternatively, what steps are taken to safeguard patient
  information that is kept private?
  
• Any
  documentation of a partnership between Genexe, LLC and Medicare.
  
• A
  list of the events/locations/organizations at which Genexe Health has
  collected DNA samples in the last two months.

When provided opportunities on both 7/12/2019 and 7/23/2019
to specify which of BBB’s questions concerned proprietary information or were
otherwise unreasonable, Genexe again declined. 

BBB encourages consumers to consult with a doctor before
ordering genetic tests.