Washington State Files Lawsuit Against Rolling Meadows-Based Center For Covid Control, Accuses Company Of Providing False, Delayed COVID-19 Test Results
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Rolling Meadows-based Center for Covid Control COVID-19 testing company ran into new trouble Monday.
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is the latest official to file a lawsuit against the company. Ferguson accuses the Center for Covid Control of "providing invalid, false and delayed COVID-19 test results to Washingtonians, or sometimes providing no results at all.
"The company's unlawful practices included storing tests in garbage bags for over a week rather than properly refrigerating them, and backdating sample collection dates so that stale samples would still be processed," according to a news release from Ferguson's office.
Ferguson also claimed employees reported the company told them to "lie to patients on a daily basis" when Washington state residents complained that their results were delayed.
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"Center for COVID Control contributed to the spread of COVID-19 when it provided false negative results," Ferguson said in the release. "These sham testing centers threatened the health and safety of our communities. They must be held accountable."
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has filed a similar lawsuit.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office has also launched an investigation into the company, which has been accused of fraudulent and deceptive conduct – with some complaining that they never received the results of their tests, among other allegations.
The Center for Covid Control is also accused billing the government for $113 million for tests provided to uninsured patients across the country, and many who actually had insurance.
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The CBS 2 Investigators first showed how an employee at one pop-up COVID testing center raised concerns about what was going on inside a Hyde Park clinic. He claimed it was filthy and unsafe, with biohazard waste going into an open trash can.
The Center for Covid Control website says all their pop-up testing locations are closed until further notice.