METHUEN, Mass. — A Methuen testing lab sent dozens of PCR tests to a lab in Chicago expecting results within a couple of days, but it’s been about a week and still no results. The reason being those tests ended up in a woman’s home in Hawaii.
“I’m so confused as to how this happened because we have a very set process for how we send out our samples,” said Manager LabElite testing center Ahmad Hussain. “People know the results of the rapid test but obviously, people want their PCR to. I just feel bad that people are not getting their results in time especially right now when there’s a surge and the labs are already delayed.”
The Hawaii mother of three says she saw a FedEx driver throw a cardboard box over the gate Saturday and opened it assuming to find a gift for under the tree, but instead it was biohazard bags full of swabs each labeled with the name and date of birth of the testee.
“That’s very unfortunate to the family that happened to, God bless them, but when I hear one of those honest mistakes, I work and ship those things and I could see the UPS guy picking up the wrong box and shipping it somewhere,” said Lawrence resident Elijah Casseus. “But someone should’ve done their due diligence somewhere it shouldn’t have ended up in Hawaii.”
A FedEx spokesperson told us they are investigating how this incident occurred. In a statement, they said “This shipment was mistakenly mislabeled. We worked directly with the customers involved to correct the situation, and the shipment has now been delivered to its intended recipient.”
“I actually contacted someone at FedEx today,” said Hussain. “They officially sent out the shipment and so people should be expecting the results hopefully very soon. I made sure the lab knows this happened and we need to test these results as soon as they get it.”
He says they send PCR tests to their Chicago lab daily and hopes this was the first and last time those tests end up in the wrong hands.
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