Health Diagnostic Laboratory in Virginia and several other labs are under investigation by the Office of Inspector General and Justice Department into the practice of compensating physicians for ordering their tests, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

HDL halted the payments following an HHS Special Fraud Alert (pdf) issued in June that notes the OIG has identified specific trends involving transfers of value from laboratories to physicians the OIG believes presents a “substantial risk of fraud and abuse under the anti-kickback statute.”

We’ve discussed regulatory issues with investing in clinical laboratories in the past and will likely cover this piece more fully in a future blog post and Law360 column.