CHICAGO — The Center for COVID Control, an embattled chain of testing pop-ups, won’t reopen in Illinois amid an investigation from state authorities, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office announced Thursday night.
The company closed all its testing sites Jan. 14 as it faces federal and state investigations. It was set to reopen some testing sites Friday — but its leaders have agreed not to reopen in Illinois for the “foreseeable future” after the Illinois Attorney General’s Office contacted them, according to a news release from that agency.
The company is based out of suburban Rolling Meadows but has said it has 300 locations around the United States. It has been paid more than $124 million for testing from the federal government since the start of the pandemic and has processed more than 400,000 tests.
But the Center for COVID Control has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks.
The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office has filed a lawsuit against the company, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and Illinois Department of Public Health are investigating it, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have cited its lab at the highest level and other states have ordered the company to close testing sites.
“Complaints have ranged from testing results being delayed or not received at all, to results being provided to individuals who were never administered a test, to tests being stored improperly, and staff incorrectly using [personal protective equipment] and face masks,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement. “Although the company voluntarily suspended operations, my office contacted company officials to demand that the Center for COVID Control immediately stop engaging in any fraudulent or deceptive conduct, particularly with respect to the delivery of testing results or billing.”
It’s not clear how long the company will keep testing sites closed. Raoul said its leaders agreed to “postpone the reopening of any pop-up testing locations in Illinois for the foreseeable future.”
Last week, Block Club revealed an 81-page report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that detailed “deficiencies” and “non-compliance” at the lab used by the company, Doctors Clinical Lab. It was cited for “immediate jeopardy,” the most serious infraction, with inspectors noting the lab had made mistakes that led to tens of thousands of PCR tests being lost, workers weren’t correctly processing rapid tests and the lab was not properly storing test samples, among other concerns.
Former employees of the Center for COVID Control have also told Block Club they were told to lie to customers, keep tests in unrefrigerated bags around the office and bill tests to the federal government, even when customers had private insurance.
And numerous people from across the United States have said they never got test results from the company, their results were badly delayed or their results didn’t make sense.
A spokesperson has denied employees’ allegations and said the company has been challenged by the latest surge in cases, but is now focused on training employees and complying with regulations.
But former employees said the company struggled to keep up with tests and had issues for months before Omicron was first detected Nov. 26 in the United States.
While that confusion has unfolded, the leaders of the company have bought a $1.36 million home and have posted online about buying cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — including saying they bought a Ferrari that cost $3.7 million. Akbar Syed, who represents himself as a leader of the company, posted that he was able to buy luxury cars thanks to “covid money.”
READ MORE
• Center For COVID Control Faked Test Results, Minnesota Attorney General Says In New Lawsuit
• Be Cautious Around COVID-19 Testing Pop-Ups, Illinois Attorney General Warns
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January 20, 2022 at 10:19PM
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