LA sheriff dropping coronavirus testing provider over alleged ties to Beijing

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Monday that his department would no longer use the county’s COVID-19 testing provider because of its alleged connections with China. 

Villanueva said Fulgent Genetics has “strong ties” to Chinese technology and genomics companies though he did not specify what those ties were, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

The sheriff said in a letter to the Board of Supervisors that the FBI contacted him last week about “the serious risks associated with allowing Fulgent to conduct COVID-19 testing” of county employees. Villanueva said that the DNA collected as a result of the tests is “not guaranteed to be safe and secure from foreign governments,” adding that the FBI said Fulgent likely shares the data it collects with the Chinese government, the Times reported.

“The letter was not intended for public dissemination at this time and it would be premature for the Sheriff’s Department to comment further until the Board of Supervisors has had an opportunity to respond,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said in a statement to The Hill.

The FBI declined to comment to the Times when asked to verify what was discussed at the meeting. 

County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who was invited to the meeting with the FBI but could not attend because of the Thanksgiving holiday, reportedly said she heard that “there was no evidence at all, zero” that Fulgent had any harmful relationship with the Chinese government. 

Brandon Perthuis, Fulgent’s chief commercial officer, said in a statement obtained by The Hill that the sheriff’s claims were false.

Perthuis said the company is U.S.-based and led by American citizens, adding that it does not share data “of any kind” with the Chinese government nor does it use test samples to sequence individual’s DNA structures. He added that test samples are destroyed after 48 hours.

“Fulgent does not collect or use DNA in connection with COVID-19 testing, and we are required to maintain the privacy and security of health information in accordance with HIPAA and other applicable privacy laws,” Perthuis said in the statement.

Perthuis also said Fulgent representatives met with L.A. County leaders last month in October, but the sheriff’s office “disregarded all of Fulgent’s valid points.”

Fulgent is also contracted by federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and is certified by the Food and Drug Administration, the Times reported.

–Updated at 1:39 p.m.