A Florida lab owner pleaded guilty Thursday to defrauding Medicare of more than $25 million in a cancer-screening scheme that involved Ellwood City Medical Center in Lawrence County.

Daniel Hurt, 58, of Fort Lauderdale, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh. He also pleaded guilty to similar charges originally filed in Florida and New Jersey. He is scheduled to be sentenced on all charges Jan. 23 before District Judge W. Scott Hardy.

Knowing that ECMC’s lab did not have the certified equipment needed to conduct cancer genomics testing, Hurt directed staff to repackage and reship the specimens to other labs, according to the information.

ECMC then submitted claims to Medicare for fraudulent testing, costing $12,000 or more per beneficiary, resulting in reimbursements that sometimes exceeded $6,000 per test, according to the information. Hurt solicited and received kickbacks from ECMC, according to the information.

ECMC has not been charged.

Hurt’s scheme resulted in Medicare paying the medical center $25.6 million from 53,866 fraudulent claims submitted on behalf of 4,074 Medicare beneficiaries across the country, according to the information.

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