In February, CMS suspended Chicago-based O'Hare Clinical Lab Services' license to operate, and cut off payments to the lab because of sanctions cited against it, The Washington Post reported March 24.
The lab collected $187 million in federal money over the course of 15 months during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.
The lab quickly expanded with more than 100 pop-up testing sites after starting out as a single location in a suburban strip mall. It eventually advertised sites in Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota, Massachusetts, California and Tennessee.
Federal inspectors found several problems during site visits, including employees who didn't follow safety protocols. Patients complained they didn't receive their results.
The lab director who was responsible for attesting to O'’Hare'’s safety procedures said she resigned because she had been kept in the dark about the company'’s network of pop-up locations, the report said.