A Maryland man is facing charges for paying for, and collecting, large blood samples from D.C. residents without the proper documentation and qualifications to do so.
According to reports, 43-year-old Khoa Hoang Nguyen of Rockville was arrested and charged with practicing without a license after drawing blood from several residents in an abandoned apartment. Apparently, Nguyen paid each participant $30 per blood sample and told them they were part of a “work-study.”
Officials were called to the scene on Wednesday, after reports of a large crowd standing outside of an abandoned building. When the police arrived, Nguyen told them that he worked for Boston BioSource, a Newton, Massachusetts-based company that provides blood and tissue samples to clients. He then revealed that he was certified to draw blood, as he’s done it for 40 people over the last two days. However, when officers searched the scene, they found a list of 205 additional names of people Nguyen drew blood from.
“It was free money,” a woman said, who was lined up to sell her blood.
“It’s a long, long line. We didn’t know what was going on,” an eye witness revealed. “People were getting blood taken from their arm and they put this tube stick down their nose.”
When asked, Nguyen was unable to provide documentation to prove that he was qualified and on top of that, the blood samples were not being stored properly. Boston BioSource told News4 that Nguyen “goes to risky areas to collect blood for research, looking for curses to diseases like cancer, tuberculosis and Alzheimer’s disease, calling it valuable work.”
Ultimately, Nguyen was charged with practicing registered nursing without a license.
