Washington state Legal professional Normal Bob Ferguson (D) filed a lawsuit on Monday in opposition to a COVID-19 testing firm, alleging it misled the individuals of his state.
The lawsuit filed in opposition to Illinois-based Heart for COVID Management, which is co-owned by Akbar Syed and Aleya Siyaj, says that the corporate claims to supply “essential COVID-19 exams” all through Washington at no cost and supply outcomes inside 48 hours, however has did not ship on these claims.
“In actuality, defendants lacked a license to function nearly all of their Washington testing websites, improperly took affected person insurance coverage data, and precipitated imminent and irrevocable hurt to the welfare of the individuals of Washington by offering invalid COVID-19 check outcomes or no outcomes in any respect,” the lawsuit mentioned.
The lawsuit additionally alleged that the corporate’s testing lab, Medical doctors Medical Laboratory, lacked the capability to course of the quantity of exams it obtained and engaged in practices — together with “storing exams in rubbish baggage strewn about its facility for over per week quite than correctly refrigerating them,” and “backdating pattern assortment dates in order that stale samples would nonetheless be processed” — that resulted in shoppers receiving false damaging check outcomes.
By reporting these false outcomes, the lawsuit claims, the corporate “contributed to the unfold of the lethal COVID-19 virus.”
Moreover, the corporate “steadily did not report any check outcomes in any respect, inflicting doubtlessly COVID-19 free people to isolate and miss work, journey, and time with family members unnecessarily,” the lawsuit mentioned.
It alleged that the corporate’s conduct was unfair and misleading, in violation of the Washington Client Safety Act.
Heart for COVID Management introduced in January it was extending its pause on operations and wouldn’t be reopening on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022, as deliberate. It added in an announcement on its web site that it “stays dedicated to offering the best stage of customer support and diagnostic high quality and won’t resume assortment of affected person samples till staffing sources allow CCC to function at full capability.”
Heart for COVID Management didn’t instantly reply to The Hill’s request for remark.
