Medical technoligist Beatriz Montoya prepares specimens for the analyzer during COVID-19 testing in the lab at Memorial Regional South in Hollywood, Fla., on May 6, 2020. (Amy Beth Bennett/Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
State officials have ordered a Maryland lab to stop performing coronavirus tests and have warned people who recently got tested through the company that their results may be incorrect.
Maryland Secretary of Health Robert Neall issued an order Saturday demanding that the Advanced Pain Medicine Institute, which has offices in Greenbelt, to stop its collection and processing of COVID-19 specimens.
The order was issued after the health department received a complaint about COVID-19 testing sites operated in coordination with the lab, according to a news release.
A health department investigation into operations at the lab's sites revealed concerns, including the lab's lack of a certification to perform COVID-19 tests and patients’ inability to obtain test results.
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The department said APMI conducted COVID-19 testing earlier this month at two locations in Baltimore and one in Hanover.
The state ordered APMI to notify anyone tested that their results are invalid or may be wrong.
Patients who received tests at any of these events may have gotten erroneous results and are encouraged to get another test or seek treatment if symptomatic, the department said.
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The Associated Press left a message seeking comment with the company's answering service on Sunday.
