Two days ago ProPublica published a story about ventilators, which have been in high demand to treat patients with COVID-19. Taxpayers Paid Millions to Design a Low-Cost Ventilator for a Pandemic. Instead, the Company Is Selling Versions of It Overseas. The story is rather long, more than 3,000 words.
A short version is this. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2015 signed a $13.8 million contract with a Pennsylvania manufacturer -- Philips, a subsidiary of a Dutch firm -- to create a low-cost, portable, easy-to-use ventilator that could be stockpiled for emergencies. The contract was very open-ended regarding delivery of the ventilators with a deadline in 2022. In September 2019, the contract was modified. Still, it gave Philips almost a year before delivering any ventilators and until 2022 to fulfill the order. Meanwhile, Philips has raised production and been selling other, higher-priced models responding to the high demand.
Showing their political leaning, the ProPublica authors believe the HHS should have forced Philips to accelerate delivery. I wonder if they also believe any direction given to Philips by its Dutch parent should be disregarded. I wonder how well the low-cost, portable, easy-to-use ventilator the HHS contracted for would perform in the more severe COVID-19 cases.
Yesterday The Hill rode the coattail of the ProPublica story. Its headline is Stockpile of US-manufactured ventilators sold overseas. In other words, The Hill twists 'an empty stockpile because it hadn't been stocked yet' into 'an empty stockpile because Philips sold from the stockpile to overseas customers.' Also, The Hill story omits the part about the delivery terms of the contract between Philips and HHS.
No comments:
Post a Comment