Are you ready to get your young kids vaccinated for Covid-19? We want to hear from you
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit Monday against the Center for COVID Control (CCC), its testing lab, and two of its co-founders, alleging the company stored “tests in garbage bags,” was operating without a license in multiple locations, and was “unfairly and deceptively” collecting customers’ insurance information .
CNN has reached out to CCC for comment.
Center for COVID Control an Illinois-based company says it offers more than 275 “convenient” testing locations nationwide. The company describes itself on its website as a “distinctive organization applying the highest level of service in the fight” against Covid-19.
The suit, filed in King County Superior Court, says that the company, “engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in violation of the Consumer Protection Act.”
The Consumer Protection Act helps protect people from “Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce” according to the Washington state legislature.
According to the suit, the company, “frequently failed to report any test results at all, causing potentially COVID-19 free individuals to isolate and miss work, travel, and time with loved ones unnecessarily.” The lawsuit also alleges the company provided “often inaccurate” test results.
More background: In January, CCC announced it would be pausing operations from Jan. 14 until Jan. 22, because “unusually high patient demand has stressed staffing resources, as has been widely reported, in a subset of our locations, affecting our usual customer service standards and diagnostic goals.”
The company recently extended its pause of operations and didn’t say when it would reopen.
“CCC remains committed to providing the highest level of customer service and diagnostic quality and will not resume collection of patient samples until staffing resources permit CCC to operate at full capacity,” the pause extension news release said. “CCC will provide an update on reopening plans when appropriate.”
Prior to closing, the company had “at least 13 testing sites in Washington” the suit said. The company only had a license to operate in one of those locations, the suit added.
“Center for Covid Control is committed to serving our patients in the safest, most accurate and most compliant manner,” Aleya Siyaj, CCC co-founder and CEO, previously said in a news release. “Regrettably, due to our rapid growth and the unprecedented recent demand for testing, we haven’t been able to meet all our commitments.
