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Company prioritizes $15k ventilators over cheaper model specified in contract:
The Dutch company that received millions of taxpayer dollars to develop an affordable ventilator for pandemics but never delivered them has struck a much more lucrative deal with the federal government to make 43,000 ventilators at four times the price.
The US Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that it plans to pay Royal Philips N.V. $646.7 million for the new ventilators—paying more than $15,000 each. The first 2,500 units are to arrive before the end of May, HHS said, and the rest by the end of December.
Philips refused to say which model of ventilator the government was buying. But in response to questions from ProPublica, HHS officials said the government is purchasing the Trilogy EV300, the more expensive version of the ventilator that was developed with federal funds.
The deal is a striking departure from the federal contract Philips' Respironics division signed in September to produce 10,000 ventilators for the Strategic National Stockpile at a cost of $3,280 each.
"This kind of profiteering—paying four times the negotiated price—is not only irresponsible to taxpayers but is particularly offensive when so many people are out of work," said Dr. Nicole Lurie, who served as the HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response during the Obama administration. "And besides, most of these ventilators will come too late to make a difference in this pandemic. We'll then 'replenish' the stockpile at a ridiculously high price."
"What else," she asked, "won't we be able to buy as a result?"
(Score: 0, Troll) by VLM on Monday April 13 2020, @01:58PM (5 children)
These formulaic outrage stories are all the same.
Government puts out a proposal, some company wins the contract, the proposal turned out to be moronic and scam-like, then bash the company for participating in the scam, finally end with a quote by some big goverment functionary about how evil capitalism is.
You'll never see an alternative to the formula focusing on why the .gov put out such a crap proposal to begin with. Big Brother is always pure and good and any other thought is double plus ungood think.
In the real world nobody has any problem with signing a contract for a Ford Focus at a Ford Focus price then suddenly having a Ferrari delivered with a Ferrari sized bill. Someone in US HHS royally screwed up and we're not going to be told who and not be told by the media that they screwed up. The problem is entirely those evil foreign capitalist pigs. Of course.
So at least we know they're incompetent.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @02:08PM
Respironics is a US-based company in Murrysville, PA
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday April 13 2020, @02:53PM (1 child)
If they have any political savvy at all, they pinned the failure on someone else and used the scandal to get themselves promoted.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday April 13 2020, @08:43PM
Hey.... you're learning from Trump. No fair!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @03:05PM
And "The problem is entirely those evil governements. Of course" is sooooo much more nuanced and closer to reality I suppose ?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by driverless on Tuesday April 14 2020, @05:01AM
You've also got actually read the story rather than just get outraged. It looks like the original contract was to deliver the $3,000 models by 2022. The government then came back and said "actually, we need these yesterday, not in 2022". The company said "OK, but under those rush conditions and the fact that you're competing with other customers it's going to cost a shitload more to make them".
That response is pretty much universal, try calling a plumber and asking for "I want you here within ten minutes" vs. "I want you here whenever your schedule is open next month". It's manufactured-outrage clickbait.