USAO, Eastern District of California - Press Release

Summary

On August 23, 2013, Demetri Dearth, owner and operator of Advanced Substance Abuse Programs (ASAP), Redding, California, was indicted in U.S. District Court, Sacramento, California, with mail fraud and false statements to a government agency in conjunction with the provision of random and pre-employment drug testing services to motor carrier drivers. The indictment alleges that Dearth falsified specimen tests results required by and provided to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and/or other U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) agencies. 

Our investigation found that between March 2009 and February 2010, ASAP collected urine specimens on behalf of 80 trucking companies that employed commercial drivers. Instead of forwarding these urine specimens to certified laboratories, Dearth failed to have a medical review officer (MRO) review the drug test results for many of the specimens ASAP collected. She created false and fraudulent Custody and Control Forms (CCF) and provided these to clients. They represented that the urine specimens had been sent to laboratories for eventual MRO review, including the names and addresses of specific MROs. However, no laboratories ever received the specimens and no MROs reviewed the laboratory results for many of the specimens collected.  Dearth also created false and fraudulent MRO reports. The false MRO reports indicated that the drug tests had come back negative and were purportedly signed by the MROs. Dearth then mailed invoices to her clients, billing them for urine specimens that had never been sent to a laboratory for drug testing and for which the laboratory results had never been reviewed by an MRO.

OIG is conducting this investigation, with assistance from the California Highway Patrol and the Office of the Secretary, Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy Compliance.

Note:  Indictments, informations, and criminal complaints are only accusations by the Government.  All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.