Lab ploy skirts decency

Photo / Thinkstock

An American hospital group hired models in lab coats, short skirts and high heels to recruit men for unnecessary DNA tests.

UMass Memorial Health Care is being investigated over "suspect marketing and billing practices", according to Michael Delaney, New Hampshire's Attorney-General.

The company is accused of paying an agency up to US$50,000 ($68,000) a week for models to visit shopping centres and coax men into having swabs taken with a view to becoming potential bone marrow donors.

The models allegedly said the tests would be cheap, before billing an average of US$4300 on the men's health insurance.