Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

In February 2023, the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Texas (“TX OAG”) informed BioReference that it believes that, from 2005 to the present, BioReference may have violated the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act with respect to claims it presented to Texas Medicaid for reimbursement. BioReference has not determined whether there is any merit to the TX OAG claims nor can it determine the extent of any potential liability. While management cannot predict the outcome of these matters at this time, the ultimate outcome could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

On December 29, 2022, the Israel Tax Authority (the “ITA”) issued an assessment against our subsidiary, OPKO Biologics in the amount of approximately $246 million (including interest) related to uncertain tax positions involving income recognition in connection with an examination of foreign tax returns for the 2014 through 2020 tax years. We recognize that local tax law is inherently complex and the local taxing authorities may not agree with certain tax positions taken.We are appealing this assessment, as we believe, other than for uncertain tax positions for which we have reserved, the issues are without technical merit. We intend to exhaust all judicial remedies necessary to resolve the matter, as necessary, which could be a lengthy process. There can be no assurance that this matter will be resolved in our favor, and an adverse outcome, or any future tax examinations involving similar assertions, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

In connection with our acquisitions of CURNA, OPKO Diagnostics and OPKO Renal, we agreed to pay future consideration to the sellers upon the achievement of certain events. As a result, as of March 31, 2023, we recorded $1.2 million as contingent consideration, with $0.1 million recorded in Accrued expenses and $1.1 million recorded within Other long-term liabilities in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Refer to Note 5.

GeneDx, Inc., the Company’s former subsidiary, received a letter dated May 26, 2022 from the Texas Medicaid Office of the Inspector General stating that certain testing provided by GeneDx was not eligible for reimbursement by the Texas Medicaid program, because the testing was considered non-covered by the Texas Medicaid program at the time the tests were performed and/or GeneDx did not hold the requisite CLIA subspecialty classifications for the testing. The Company is working with GeneDx Holdings to investigate these issues. Following recent communication, it appears the CLIA subspecialty classification issue has been addressed to the satisfaction of the Texas Medicaid Office of the Inspector General. The potential non-covered testing issue, however, remains under investigation. The Texas Medicaid Office has expressed in writing a potential repayment liability of approximately $784 thousand. At this time, the Company can express no opinion as to the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome or the range of potential loss in this matter.

On March 1, 2019, the Company received a Civil Investigative Demand (“CID”) from the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), Washington, DC. The CID sets forth document requests and interrogatories in connection with allegations that the Company and certain of its affiliates violated the False Claims Act and/or the Anti-Kickback Statute. On January 13, 2022, the Federal Government notified the U.S.D.C., Middle District Florida, Jacksonville Division, that it is declining to intervene in the matter but retains the right, via the Attorney General, to consent to any proposed dismissal of the action by the Court. On February 9, 2022, the States of Florida, Georgia, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts notified the U.S.D.C., Middle District Florida, Jacksonville Division, that they are declining to intervene in the matter. Notwithstanding the above declinations, on February 17, 2022, the Company was served with the Relator’s Summons and Complaint (“Complaint”), which had been previously sealed. The Complaint alleges violations of the False Claims Act, the California Fraud Preventions Act, the Florida False Claims Act, the Massachusetts False Claims Act, the Georgia False Medicaid Claims Act, and illegal kickbacks. A motion to dismiss the Complaint was filed on April 25, 2022 and the case was dismissed in March 2023. However, the Relator filed an amended complaint in April 2023. While management cannot predict the outcome of these matters at this time, the ultimate outcome could be material to our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

From time to time, we may receive inquiries, document requests, CIDs or subpoenas from the Department of Justice, OCR, CMS, various payors and fiscal intermediaries, and other state and federal regulators regarding investigations, audits and reviews. In addition to the matters discussed in this note, we are currently responding to CIDs, subpoenas, payor audits, and document requests for various matters relating to our laboratory operations. Some pending or threatened proceedings against us may involve potentially substantial amounts as well as the possibility of civil, criminal, or administrative fines, penalties, or other sanctions, which could be material. Settlements of suits involving the types of issues that we routinely confront may require monetary payments as well as corporate integrity agreements. Additionally, qui tam or “whistleblower” actions initiated under the civil False Claims Act may be pending but placed under seal by the court to comply with the False Claims Act’s requirements for filing such suits. Also, from time to time, we may detect issues of non-compliance with federal healthcare laws pertaining to claims submission and reimbursement practices and/or financial relationships with physicians, among other things. We may avail ourselves of various mechanisms to address these issues, including participation in voluntary disclosure protocols. Participating in voluntary disclosure protocols can have the potential for significant settlement obligations or even enforcement action. The Company generally has cooperated, and intends to continue to cooperate, with appropriate regulatory authorities as and when investigations, audits and inquiries arise.

We are a party to other litigation in the ordinary course of business. While we cannot predict the ultimate outcome of legal matters, we accrue a liability for legal contingencies when we believe that it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and that we can reasonably estimate the amount of the loss. It’s reasonably possible the ultimate liability could exceed amounts currently estimated and we review established accruals and adjust them to reflect ongoing negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel and other relevant information. To the extent new information is obtained and our views on the probable outcomes of claims, suits, assessments, investigations or legal proceedings change, changes in our accrued liabilities would be recorded in the period in which such determination is made. Because of the high degree of judgment involved in establishing loss estimates, the ultimate outcome of such matters will differ from our estimates and such differences may be material to our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

At March 31, 2023, we were committed to make future purchases for inventory and other items in 2023 that occur in the ordinary course of business under various purchase arrangements with fixed purchase provisions aggregating approximately $52.8 million.