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The Oregon Department of Justice has launched an investigation into two COVID-19 testing companies operating in Oregon.
One is called Center for Covid Control, which WW reported on Tuesday was being investigated by the DOJ. But the Justice Department confirmed today that another company was also bundled into that investigation, Community Wellness America.
Its website says it offers PCR and rapid tests, and it’s based in Encinitas, Calif.
The company says it “helps community members achieve & maintain optimal health & wellbeing by providing resources to act like a handle to pull themselves up by addressing aspects of their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. This involves physical fitness, nutrition & weightloss, disease prevention & longevity, smoking cessation, and stress reduction.”
The DOJ did not immediately say how many sites the company operates, or operated, in Oregon, or the locations. Information about its locations in Oregon was not easily accessible online, but California officials in several cities are investigating the company after it operated a handful of pop-up sites across the state.
The DOJ first received complaints about sites operated by Center for Covid Control in October, but did not launch an investigation until this week. The Justice Department still hasn’t said the date when it launched that investigation.
“Many times we do not open a formal file until we are able to gather more information or we receive a pattern of complaints. The additional information leading to opening a formal file (i.e., info about concerning practices in other states) was not received until this week,” says spokeswoman Kristina Edmunson. “This is our second investigation of a testing site, and both the Center for Covid Control and the other site have been on our radar since October. For the Center for Covid Control, we logged the information we had—which was not enough to open a separate investigation at that time—with the other related case.”
WW reported on Tuesday that the Oregon Health Authority had received no test results from the company, or its stated lab partner, Doctors Clinical Laboratory. The company has been registered in Oregon since October and was operating three sites—two of which were sheds set up in parking lots—until the company announced Jan. 13 it was closing down for a week due to staffing shortage and the high demand for tests.
The company has come under scrutiny in nearly 10 states, where allegations of improper testing practices at sites, failure to report testing results to local health authorities, and questions about the accuracy of tests have spread.