Millennium Health LLC’s chapter 11 plan cleared a major hurdle on Friday when a bankruptcy judge brushed aside objections to the plan, which funds a $256 million settlement of fraud accusations with the Justice Department, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein approved the bulk of a reorganization strategy designed as a fresh start for the drug-testing company. Millennium hasn’t admitted to civil charges that it fraudulently billed taxpayers. The judge withheld her signature while pondering the form of the order she is being asked to sign. Assuming she grants confirmation at a hearing on Tuesday, lenders will take over from the existing owners, including James Slattery, who founded Millennium, and TA Associates, a private-equity firm that owns a minority stake in the company. At a hearing on Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., Judge Silverstein cited a looming Dec. 30 deadline for Millennium to cover the settlement or face revocation of its right to bill Medicare and other government programs.
