Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Investigation Finds 1,300 Chinese Medical Supply Firms Used Fake Address In America
The Wall Street Journal: Over 1,300 Chinese Medical Suppliers To U.S.—Including Mask Providers—Use Bogus Registration Data
More than 1,300 Chinese medical-device companies that registered to sell protective gear and other equipment in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic listed as their American representative a purported Delaware entity that uses a false address and nonworking phone number, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. All foreign manufacturers of medical devices are required to have a representative with a real address in the U.S. and somebody available during business hours. Such U.S. agents serve as a point of contact between the Food and Drug Administration and these overseas companies, to coordinate inspections, recalls or other urgent needs. (Hufford, Maremont and Lin, 6/12)
In other news on medical devices —
The Wall Street Journal: Medical-Supply Firm Sues Bank Over Broken Coronavirus Deal
A politically connected medical supply company alleged that the improper actions of its bank caused it to lose a $600 million order for coronavirus supplies, ruined its business, triggered death threats to its founders and ruined their reputation. In a suit filed Friday in a Virginia federal court, Blue Flame Medical LLC contends that as it was waiting for a down payment from the state of California, an official at Chain Bridge Bank told California’s treasurer that the company might be “fraudulent.” (Mullins, 6/12)
Kaiser Health News: White House Left States On Their Own To Buy Ventilators. Inside Their Mad Scramble.
Fearful that New Orleans would run out of ventilators by early April as the number of COVID-19 patients rose by the hundreds, even thousands, per day, Louisiana officials set out to get every device they could find. At the time, that meant securing an additional 14,000. Within days of President Donald Trump’s urging states to get their own supplies because it would “be faster if they can get them directly,” Louisiana sought only a fraction of them from the federal government and turned to private companies for the rest, having little confidence one supplier would give the state all it needed. (Pradhan, 6/15)
