Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson has filed a lawsuit against an Illinois-based COVID-19 testing company, accusing it of improperly handling tests and providing fake negative results.
The Seattle Times reported that the lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court says the Center for COVID Control, which has about 300 locations nationwide, "failed to deliver prompt, valid and accurate results." The lawsuit also alleges the company made deceptive promises of results within 48 hours and reportedly instructed its employees to "lie to patients on a daily basis."
The Center for COVID Control did not respond to a request for comment. The company's website says all their locations are closed "until further notice."
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said, “Center for COVID Control contributed to the spread of COVID-19 when it provided false-negative results,” the Seattle Times reported. “These sham testing centers threatened the health and safety of our communities. They must be held accountable,” Ferguson said.
Attorney General Ferguson also named Akbar Syed, Aleya Siyaj and Doctors Clinical Laboratory in the lawsuit, accordingto the Seattle Times.
Syed and Siyaj are married, live in Illinois, and co-founded the testing company.
As the Associated Press reports, the Center for COVID Control had been operating in Washington state since October and gained popularity with the rapid spread of the omicron variant, and lack of access to at-home and other COVID-19 tests.
