Southern Health Network Inc had a contract with TCI, a British dependency, to set up treatment, transportation and lodging for people needing US medical care.

On Monday, four Stanford investors sued Antigua for US$8 billion in a Houston court, claiming the island benefitted from billionaire Allen Stanford's operations and investments on the island. The TCI suit was reportedly filed in June in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.

Turks and Caicos, which is going through a tumultuous political transition, has about 23,000 people on eight inhabited islands, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Southern Health President Henry Givens said the payment problems began as political turmoil worsened earlier this year in the islands.

Former premier Michael Misick resigned in March amid a wide-ranging corruption investigation.

On April 1, the Turks and Caicos abruptly cancelled the Southern Health contract with promises the medical bills would be paid.

Royal Robinson, TCI deputy premier and health minister, said he was aware of the lawsuit, but the government has not yet been served with the legal papers.

Givens said Southern Health arranged care for hundreds of islanders over a three-year period, chartering airplanes to bring to the US people with critical needs such as kidney dialysis when the Turks and Caicos were without electricity for weeks following Hurricane Ike last year.

Most of the islanders sought care in the US for illnesses or injuries that could not adequately be treated at home.

AP