An Essex County jury awarded $2.4 million to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield in a suit filed against three health care providers for fraudulently billing the health care giant for services.

Horizon's complaint alleged that it paid more than $2.6 million in claims that were fraudulently submitted by the defendants for medical services that were either not performed, not medically necessary, or not ordered by a licensed medical professional. The lawsuit, Horizon v. Integrative Medicine & Biofeedback Clinic, was filed in February 2017 in Essex County Superior Court against a massage therapist, C. Samuel Verghese, physician James Claire, D.O., and Mount Laurel-based Integrative Medicine & Biofeedback Clinic over allegedly fraudulent claims.