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LA City Attorney Settles With Chinese Genetic Company Over COVID-19 Home Test Claiming To Have FDA Approval

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A settlement has been reached with a Chinese genetic testing company over allegations it advertised and sold at-home COVID-19 testing kits that lacked FDA approval.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer filed suit against Yikon Genomics, seeking a court order that directs the company to stop marketing and selling the test kits plus fines for each alleged violation. Feuer announced Monday it had reached a settlement with the company.

Yikon Genomics had touted a $39 test that promised to deliver a result in 15 minutes. The company claimed the "Corona Virus At-Home Test Kit" was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA has not approved any coronavirus home test kits.

"If consumers have a home test kit that hasn't been approved by the FDA, and is not likely to work properly, they might not get reliable results, and they might unknowingly expose others to this virus," Feuer said at a news conference.

Yikon Genomics, which primarily does genetic and in-vitro fertilization testing, agreed to pull its product from the market and refund anyone who purchased it.

The coronavirus outbreak and inability for most people to obtain a test has given rise to a number of coronavirus-related scams, including ones related to stimulus checks, donations, investments, inspections and fake home tests.

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