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Law360 (March 18, 2020, 2:11 PM EDT) -- The Federal Trade Commission must act quickly to protect the public from "profiteers who have cleaned the shelves of hundreds of stores" in order to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and resell in-demand items at a high markup, Democratic lawmakers told the agency.
The four lawmakers urged the agency Tuesday to take action to protect the public from price gouging, citing recent news reports of Amazon pulling exorbitantly priced face masks and disinfectant from its virtual storefronts and a man who hoarded thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer aiming to turn a profit.
"This misconduct places critical goods out of reach for those who need them most. Americans who fear for their own and their loved ones' health and safety should not be further victimized," the lawmakers said in their St. Patrick's Day letter.
All four of the lawmakers who signed off on the letter — Reps. Jerrold Nadler of New York, Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, David N. Cicilline of Rhode Island and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois — have been outspoken on antitrust and consumer protection issues in the past.
The letter also signaled that the House might soon be considering legislation to curb price gouging during the public health emergency, promising that lawmakers would "continue to pursue other means, including legislation" in the meantime.
Health care workers are already running low on protective equipment and are being forced to reuse normally single-use items for the sake of conservation in parts of the country, according to the letter.
As COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, lands more people in the hospital, the supply problem is only likely to worsen, causing anxiety that health care workers will be placed at an even higher risk.
In the White House's public address Tuesday, the Trump administration asked construction companies to consider donating their stores of N95 respirator masks to local hospitals and to stop ordering more.
Because of the masks' ability to filter out small particles, they are favored by construction workers who may be working in fine dust, but also can be helpful in preventing health care workers from contracting the novel coronavirus while treating patients.
The U.S. Department of Defense said Wednesday afternoon that it will be handing over 5 million N95 respirator masks from its own stockpile to health care workers, with 1 million of those to be made available immediately.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also said it is suggesting that N95 masks only be used for the most severe circumstances in order to conserve supplies.
--Editing by Marygrace Murphy.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
