Scanlon Calls on White House to Ramp Up PPE Production
EAST LANSDOWNE, PA — Today, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5) called on the White House to immediately launch a coordinated and comprehensive federal effort to address the critical medical supply chain issues limiting the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) needed to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter addressed to President Trump, Administrator Peter T. Gaynor, Secretary Alex Azar, Rear Admiral John P. Polowczyk, and Coordinator Peter Navarro, Congresswoman Scanlon advocated for the administration to utilize its full authority to produce PPE.
“In the past two weeks, my office has fielded hundreds of requests from hospitals, local agencies, and HCPs desperate for these critical medical supplies,” Congresswoman Scanlon wrote. “Many medical workers do not have access to the N95 masks needed to prevent infection, and many that do are being told to reuse single-use masks, often for days at a time, storing them in a paper bag at their workstations between patients.”
Congresswoman Scanlon also addressed the revised guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding the reuse of masks. “This revision is based upon availability of equipment rather than international medical standards, which state clearly that reusing PPE puts healthcare workers at increased risk,” she wrote.
Congresswoman Scanlon also called on the administration to address price gouging and profiteering from suppliers of these necessary supplies.
“Health care systems in my district are reporting that masks, which usually cost $0.75, are now only being offered for $8.00–10.00 or more, if they can be found at all,” she wrote. “Unscrupulous sellers are offering counterfeit PPE that may expose users to infection and are taking payment for orders but failing to deliver.”
“Under these circumstances, the administration must use all resources at its disposal to produce and distribute essential medical supplies,” Congresswoman Scanlon furthered. “The administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been fatally slow and uncoordinated. The failure to heed the advice of medical experts, or implement the pandemic response procedures recommended by the National Security Council (NSC), has left our frontline medical providers dangerously under equipped to combat this pandemic. I urge you to take immediate steps to implement the suggestions outlined in this letter, and save American lives.”
A copy of the full letter is below.
President Donald Trump,
I write with the deepest concern to request that the administration immediately launch a coordinated and comprehensive federal effort to address the critical medical supply chain issues limiting the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as we battle the coronavirus pandemic.
As in the rest of the country, local agencies and medical providers in Southeastern Pennsylvania have identified critical shortages of PPE necessary for preventing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting medical professionals, particularly N95 masks. Shortages are so severe that healthcare providers (HCPs) and first responders have resorted to crowdsourcing PPE piecemeal from our community — this is unacceptable.
It has become clear that traditional commercial manufacturing and supply chains, even when supplemented by the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), are unable to meet current and near-term needs in the face of this pandemic. Federal coordination of the production and distribution of PPE is necessary for the following reasons:
● In the past two weeks, my office has fielded hundreds of requests from hospitals, local agencies, and HCPs desperate for these critical medical supplies. Many medical workers do not have access to the N95 masks needed to prevent infection, and many that do are being told to reuse single-use masks, often for days at a time, storing them in a paper bag at their workstations between patients. Although Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised its guidance to allow the reuse of these masks, I understand that this revision is based upon availability of equipment rather than international medical standards, which state clearly that reusing PPE puts healthcare workers at increased risk.
● National and global shortages of PPE have led to profiteering, fraud and hoarding. Commercial markets are unable to price and allocate resources to meet America’s urgent public health needs. Health care systems in my district are reporting that masks which usually cost $0.75, are now only being offered for $8.00–10.00 or more, if they can be found at all. Unscrupulous sellers are offering counterfeit PPE that may expose users to infection and are taking payment for orders but failing to deliver.
● In the absence of coordinated federal distribution, hospitals, states, and local governments are competing for the same scarce resources. Additionally, the federal government’s belated attempts to procure PPE are further disrupting the supply chain. Just last week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) diverted a confirmed shipment of 80,000 prepaid masks to a Pennsylvania hospital which was counting on those masks to protect workers and patients. Similar reports are occurring around the country.
Under these circumstances, the administration must use all resources at its disposal to produce and distribute essential medical supplies. A fragmented and haphazard response by the federal government is unacceptable in this global crisis. Although weeks late, massively increasing manufacturing of medical equipment through the Defense Protection Act (DPA), clarifying allotment guidance, and tackling price gouging of medical supplies can put us on track to curbing the spread of COVID-19 and saving lives.
As you know, the provisions within the DPA would allow you as President to pivot American manufacturing to increase the supply of medical equipment. Centralizing the manufacturing sector’s production and distribution of PPE is the only way we can begin to deliver the volume of medical equipment needed to combat this crisis.
Additionally, FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must issue clear and consistent guidance detailing how PPE distributed from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), or through other Federal manufacturing contracts, is to be allocated and, if necessary, reallocated.
While I am heartened by your decision to begin enforcing “product hoarding” sanctions under Section 102 of the Defense Production Act (DPA), I request that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) move faster and more comprehensively to secure the supply chain and combat price gouging and fraud during this global pandemic.
Thus far, the administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been fatally slow and uncoordinated. The failure to heed the advice of medical experts, or implement the pandemic response procedures recommended by the National Security Council (NSC), has left our frontline medical providers dangerously under equipped to combat this pandemic. I urge you to take immediate steps to implement the suggestions outlined in this letter, and save American lives.
