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Wednesday, October 21, 2026

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Justice Department · Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Maryland jury convicts a lab owner in a Medicare scheme

The File desk · Oct. 21, 2026, 6:40 a.m. ET

Confirmed1 primary sources

Status

Confirmed from the Justice Department release of Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. A federal jury in Maryland convicted Patrick Britton-Harr on Monday. The department's headline figure is $18.7 million.
  • Confirmed
    The department said a jury convicted Patrick Britton-Harr, 42, of Annapolis, of billing Medicare for respiratory tests tied to nursing homes.
  • Confirmed
    The release headline states $18.7 million. The body says he billed Medicare more than $18 million for tests residents did not need.
Patrick Britton-Harr, 42, of Annapolis, was convicted Monday. A federal jury in Maryland convicted a laboratory owner of billing Medicare for respiratory tests that nursing-home residents did not need. The department's headline figure for the scheme is $18.7 million.1
U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes said the verdict “reinforces our message: there is nowhere to hide for those who commit fraud.” The release does not state a sentence. Sentencing is still ahead.1
Why it matters (Estimate). Estimate. Nursing homes took the tests because residents were at risk in the pandemic. Medicare pays those bills with public money. A conviction means a jury found the extra tests were fraud. The dollar figure is the department's, and a judge has not yet set a sentence.1
The Justice Department announced the verdict on Tuesday. It says Britton-Harr offered COVID-19 tests to nursing homes in 2020, then billed Medicare for separate respiratory-pathogen panels that physicians did not order and that, in many cases, were never performed. The body of the release says he billed more than $18 million.1
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.Justice Department Office of Public Affairs, “Maryland Man Convicted of $18.7M Medicare Fraud for Respiratory Testing Scheme Targeting Nursing Homes,” Tuesday, October 20, 2026. Re-opened for this edition. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/maryland-man-convicted-187m-medicare-fraud-respiratory-testing-scheme-targeting-nursing “A federal jury in the District of Maryland convicted a laboratory owner yesterday for taking advantage of nursing homes that needed COVID-19 tests during the pandemic and fraudulently billing Medicare more than $18 million for other expensive respiratory tests that nursing home residents did not need, physicians did not order, and, in many cases, were never performed.” “Patrick Britton-Harr, 42, of Annapolis.” Kelly O. Hayes: “This verdict reinforces our message: there is nowhere to hide for those who commit fraud.” The $18.7 million figure is the headline of the release.

What is still unknown or disputed

  • The sentence. The release does not state one.
  • How much of the $18.7 million Medicare paid, as opposed to billed.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Maryland Man Convicted of $18.7M Medicare Fraud

    U.S. Department of Justice · October 20, 2026

    A federal jury convicted Patrick Britton-Harr. The release headline states $18.7 million. The body says he billed Medicare more than $18 million.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/maryland-man-convicted-187m-medicare-fraud-respiratory-testing-scheme-targeting-nursing

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