Women May Have Gotten Botched Mammograms At Hoffman Estates Office
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There's an urgent warning for patients of a Hoffman Estates medical practice.
The state says some of their mammograms may have been botched.
CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey reports from Hoffman Imaging and Medical Center, where it's not the first time the facility has been accused of botching tests.
The warning is going out to mammogram patients. Some of those tests were conducted under the ownership of a man named Omayr Niazi.
He was charged in May for doing a CT scan without any certification or training.
Digging into state records, CBS 2 found the practice was dissolved on Tuesday.
One day before the Illinois Emergency Management Agency's warning to any patient who got a mammogram there on or after October 17, 2019.
The state says they should get a second opinion. Because they found that the quality of many of the images was that poor.
Diane Werner who works at the travel agency next door. She said the last time she saw people going in was about three weeks ago. She said their business practices are unorthodox.
"We do see patients I guess coming for appointments," Werner said. "And most often there's no one there to answer the door."
The state says it wasn't an issue with the mammogram machinery. The poor quality was due to staffing errors.
Almost a year ago, IEMA issued an Emergency Order for the facility to cease operations pending accreditation by the American College of Radiology and certification by the state.
But that order was ignored. If you check their website, there's still a link to set up your mammogram appointment today.
Hoffman Imaging and Medical Center got new owners in July 2020 who have not returned multiple requests for comment.
But between Oct 2019 and July 2020 it was under the ownership of Omayr Niazi.
He might look familiar because in May CBS 2 told you he was arrested and charged with two felonies for botching a CT scan on a patient who later got sick.
It turned out Niazi was not certified or trained. That case is still pending in Cook County.
"I think that's really unfortunate. It's terrible," Werner said.
The state is urging mammogram patients from this practice to get another exam because it's possible their last one may have missed something.
If your insurance won't pay for a second one, the National Cancer Institute will help direct you to free or low-cost mammograms near you. Contact them at (800) 422-6237.
There isn't a full count for how many patients are impacted but we know just between December 2020 and March 2021 there were about 100.
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