Keith Ellison of Minnesota Attorney General said that there are companies who failed to deliver COVID-19 test results and falsified negative results in the first major legal action against companies in recent weeks. AG Ellison is now suing these two testing companies that have been the subject of scores of consumer complaints nationwide.

Ellison filed the lawsuit last Wednesday against the two Illinois-based companies – Center for COVID Control, LLC and Doctors Clinical Laboratory, Inc. that reportedly collected samples from Minnesotans for COVID-19 testing, but either failed to deliver the test results or delivered test results that were falsified or inaccurate.

According to a Zoom meeting detailing the announcement, Ellison received numerous complaints from Minnesotans who submitted COVID-19 tests at pop-up sites around the state, operated by Center for COVID Control who never received their test results from the company’s associated lab, Doctors Clinical Laboratory, despite waiting for weeks or more. Minnesotans also reported receiving test results from the companies despite having never submitted a sample for testing.

Watch it here: Fox 9/Youtube

Center for Covid Control is one of the biggest players in the COVID testing space, operating over 300 sites nationwide, according to an NBC News report from Jan. 14, which noted that the company is under federal investigation as well as being probed by attorneys general in several states.

Worse still, some Minnesotans, who had never submitted samples, reported they’d received test results from the companies, according to the lawsuit:

“Even more disturbingly, Defendants have fraudulently represented that Minnesota consumers have tested negative for COVID-19, despite consumers never having submitted samples for Defendants to test,” it states.

In a statement, Ellison (D) said he is pursuing legal action against the companies to hold them accountable for “deceiving Minnesotans and undermining the public’s trust in testing.”

“My job is to fight for Minnesotans’ security and help them live with dignity, safety, and respect. Making sure that Minnesotans have accurate tools to them safe from the COVID-19 pandemic is a key part of that job,” Ellison said, vowing to use “every tool” at his disposal to go after companies that undermine public safety.

Neither the Center for COVID Control (CCC) nor Doctors Clinical Laboratory immediately responded to requests for comment Wednesday.

Pop-up testing sites have proliferated as demand for surges. Since large hospital systems and state and local health departments operate walk-in and drive-through testing sites, consumers complaints in states such as Oregon and Illinois reveal that customers are not always aware the pop-up testing site they visited is not affiliated with a doctor’s office or health agency; some of the CCC’s 300 locations are pop-up tailgate-style tents or shipping containers.

“They don’t realize they’re just a business that’s unlicensed and unregulated,” Steve Bernas, president, and CEO of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Chicago and Northern Illinois previously told The Washington Post.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum (D) is investigating CCC for possible violations of the Oregon Unfair Trade Practices Act, a spokesperson with her office told The Post last week.

Sources: Western Journal, NBC News, Washington Post, AP News, Fox 9