The Center for COVID Control

Swiss Miss Ali Fish(er) is on the pod to talk about one of the most prolific COVID testing scam sites in the country. What I didn't realize is how piecemeal our testing infrastructure was over the past 2 years, and this particular scam goes fucking nuts. How can two owners of an axe throwing range wind up as the 12th most federally funded COVID testing site in the country? Why did we regulate those testing sites as businesses and not health clinics? WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE!?

I neglected to mention in the episode that all of the information is as of Jan 1, 2023. There may be more charges that befall the fraudsters, but it doesn't look like anything's coming down the pipe any time soon. But if I'm wrong, I'm wrong! That'll teach me to do anything remotely topical.

SOURCES:

1. At pop-up COVID testing sites, customers report improper masking and social distancing, lengthy waits for results: ‘It’s kind of the wild, Wild West.’ - Nara Schoenberg and Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, Jan 2022

2. Center for COVID Control under investigation by Oregon DOJ, Better Business Bureau, Grace Hauck, USA Today, Jan 2022

3. COVID-19 Testing Chain Opened Pop-Ups Across The US. Now, It’s Temporarily Closing Amid Federal Investigation And Mounting Complaints, Kelly Bauer, Block Club Chicago, Jan 2022

4. MINNESOTA AG COMPLAINT AGAINST CENTER FOR COVID CONTROL, January 2022

5. OREGON AG COMPLAINT AGAINST CENTER FOR COVID CONTROL, April 2022

6. ARIZONA JUDGE RULING FOR AG COMPLAINT AGAINST CENTER FOR COVID CONTROL, July 2022

7. AG: Center for COVID Control owners barred from doing business in Washington, Fox 13 Seattle, Oct 2022

7. https://www.yelp.com/biz/studio-six-fifteen-schaumburg

8. https://web.archive.org/web/20220113035953/https://www.bullseyeaxelounge.com/2021/01/08/covid-19-diagnostic-testing/

9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyzX0Y0VlAs&ab_channel=MichaelFigueroa

10. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10414537/Federal-probe-serial-entrepreneur-couple-cashed-COVID-testing-boom.html