COVID testing center fined $22,500

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has fined the operators of the Center for COVID Control $22,500 relating to concerns about misleading advertising, according to a Wisconsin State Journalreport. The company set up 25 collection sites in Wisconsin for COVID-19 testing, including six in Dane County, and will be required to pay $11,250 in civil forfeitures and $11,250 in statutory fees. DATCP said the Center for COVID Control provided advertising to Doctors Clinics Laboratory and established the sites to collect biological samples for COVID-19 testing from Dec. 2, 2020 to Jan. 21, 2022. Operators ran online ads that said people who got a free “gold standard” reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test, or RT-PCR, would receive results within 48 hours, but people who used this test did not receive their test results within this time frame, according to DATCP.