A district judge has ordered a Houston-area clinic to stop providing COVID-19-related testing and medical care and to secure a nearby dumpster where test results were allegedly being improperly disposed.
Clinica Hispana La Porte, at 9606 Spencer Highway, was administering antibody tests that were advertised to patients as COVID-19 infection tests, a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton alleges. The suit further accuses the company of throwing away test results in an unsecured dumpster behind the clinic, which is a violation of Texas identity theft laws.
“I will not allow anyone or any business to fraudulently represent COVID testing in our communities,” Paxton said in a news release. “Patients must be assured that the tests they take and results they receive are accurate and their personal information will be protected.”
Chron.com made multiple calls to the clinic in a request for comment, all of which went unanswered.
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A large sign strewn across a black Infiniti SUV that read “COVID-19 TEST RESULTS IN 15 MINUTES!” has drawn large crowds to the clinic for the last several weeks, according to the lawsuit. The Infiniti SUV is registered to Luis Alberto, also known as Luis Alberto Cuan Lio, who is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit and “who has gone to great lengths to cover his involvement with the Clinica Hispania La Porte,” the suit said.
The clinic and Cuan are not authorized to perform the antibody tests and do not have proper lab certification, according to the lawsuit. The clinic has no assumed name records or corporate filings with Harris County or the Texas Secretary of State and Cuan is not listed among licensed physicians in Texas, the lawsuit added.
La Porte resident Julie Lawson, 54, said she and her son went to the clinic about a month or two ago in search of a COVID-19 test after struggling to get tested at Harris County Public Health’s San Jacinto College site.
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Lawson and her son, who has a rare lung condition and is at high-risk for contracting the virus, paid $160 for blood tests that came back negative. A family member later informed her the blood tests are used to detect COVID-19 antibodies and do not signal whether a person currently has COVID-19. When Lawson called the clinic to demand a refund, she said staff told her she would be given her money back if she promised not to tell anyone.
“I was so upset because I know all these people, most of them were there for the same reason we were there,” Lawson said. “I see all these people in this waiting room and I am wanting to tell these people, ‘if you are here wanting to know if you have the virus right now you are in the wrong place.'”
Lawson said she lives down the street from the clinic and over the last several weeks she has seen the parking lot “packed” with patients, mostly who are Hispanic. Hispanics are being disproportionately affected by the pandemic, with a majority of Houston’s recent COVID-19 hospitalized patients being of Hispanic ethnicity.
“To see that parking lot so full … would literally make me sick to my stomach,” Lawson said. “Taking advantage of these people and taking their money … it’s really sad. They were being so misled.”
Judge Rabeea Sultan Collier on Wednesday signed a temporary restraining order against the clinic. A hearing for a temporary injunction hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Aug. 24.
Rebecca Hennes covers community news for the Houston Chronicle and Houston Community Newspapers. Follow her on Twitter @beccaghennes.