Chicago-based Center for COVID Control and its main lab, Doctors Clinical Lab, was sued by the Oregon attorney general, USAToday reported April 7. It is the latest in a string of lawsuits filed against the company.
The lawsuit alleges that the married couple who founded the company, Aleya Siyaj and Akbar Ali Syed, funneled millions of dollars received from the federal government and insurance companies to themselves, the report said. The lab has been reimbursed more than $153 million through federal programs.
For months, the company's testing sites gave nearly all patients both a PCR and rapid antigen test, allowing for two tests to be billed instead of one, the report said. Some patients were falsely told that they would need to take another test.
The testing demands overwhelmed the company around the holidays in 2021, and on December 16 Mr. Syed wrote in a WhatsApp message to an Oregon site operator that the company would fall apart if it continued to collect PCR tests from all patients, the report said.
The company and its lab also face lawsuits or investigations from the attorneys general of Minnesota, Washington, Illinois and federal authorities.