Skip to main content

New story in Health from Time: New York Man First Charged With Price Gouging Protective Equipment During COVID-19 Pandemic



(NEW YORK) — Federal prosecutors charged a New York retailer Friday with hoarding tons of disposable masks, surgical gowns and hand sanitizer in a Long Island warehouse and selling the items at huge markups.

Amardeep “Bobby” Singh, 45, was charged with violating the Defense Production Act of 1950 in what authorities described as the first such prosecution during the coronavirus pandemic. Singh is expected to surrender to authorities next week in the case around what is known as personal protective equipment, which has become a hot commodity during the outbreak.

Read more: Begging for Thermometers, Body Bags, and Gowns: U.S. Health Care Workers Are Dangerously Ill-Equipped to Fight COVID-19

Singh’s attorney, Bradley Gerstman, called the charges “mostly fiction” and said the complaint misstated his client’s costs.

“If selling PPE goods is improper or criminal, then a lot of people need to go to jail,” Gerstman said in a telephone interview. “The Defense Production Act is wildly vague, and I don’t think this would pass muster on any appellate level. I think this statute would be struck down as null and void.”

The charges come more than a month after President Donald Trump issued an executive order making it illegal to hoard scarce medical supplies or sell personal protective equipment at inflated prices.

“Singh’s amassing of critical personal protective equipment during a public health crisis and reselling at huge markups places him squarely in the cross-hairs of law enforcement armed with the Defense Production Act,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a written statement.

Singh sells sneakers and apparel at his Plainview store, prosecutors said, but dedicated a new section last month to “COVID-19 Essentials,” including N95 masks, face shields, gloves and disinfecting products.

In late March and early April, authorities said, Singh stockpiled more than 1.6 tons of disposable masks; 2.2 tons of surgical gowns; 1.8 tons of hand sanitizer and seven shipments of digital thermometers. Records from the store showed he bought the face masks for 7 cents apiece and then resold them for $1 each, prosecutors said.

Read more: What ‘Preppers’ Can Teach Us About Dealing With the Coronavirus Outbreak

A search of his business and warehouse turned up more than 5,000 face shields, 2,471 full-body isolation suits and 711,400 disposable vinyl gloves, according to court records.

Authorities said Singh marketed the products on social media and continued selling them even after he received a cease-and-desist letter from the New York Attorney General’s Office, which called his pricing “unconscionably excessive.”

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

New story in Health from Time: COVID-19 Has Been ‘Apocalyptic’ for Public Transit. Will Congress Offer More Help?

While trying to get to work over the past few months, Brittany Williams, a Seattle home care worker, has often been passed by two or three buses before one stops to let her board. Buses in her area that once carried anywhere from about 50 to 100 passengers have been limited to between 12 and 18 to prevent overcrowding in response to coronavirus, and Williams’ commute, typically a half-hour ride, now takes more than double that time. Other Seattle transit riders have described budgeting as much as an extra hour per trip to account for the reduced capacity, eating into their time at work, school or with family. Even with the ridership limits in place, Williams, 34, doesn’t feel safe on public transit. Some passengers don’t wear face coverings, and bus drivers sometimes ignore capacity limits, she says. On one ride with her seven-year-old son, she decided to get off at a stop far from her home after a driver allowed a crowd of people to board. “It’s very trying. I’ll put...
Read more

New story in Health from Time: Why You Should Add Rest to Your Workout Routine

Most fitness advice urges people to squeeze in more workouts. That’s reasonable, considering government data show that only about a quarter of American adults meet the current guidelines for adequate physical activity : 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week, plus two bouts of muscle-strengthening exercise. Meeting these guidelines is important, since getting enough exercise can improve an individual’s physical and mental health . But when it comes to exercise, it is possible to have too much of a good thing . In fact, research suggests taking strategic time off from your workout routine can maximize the benefits of physical activity, and minimize the risks. “Rest and recovery absolutely are necessary,” says Hunter Paris, an associate professor of sports medicine at Pepperdine University in California. “Fatigue, to a degree, is beneficial [because it signifies progress]. But there comes a point where fatigue can accumulate and ove...
Read more

New story in Health from Time: 265 Million People Could Face Hunger in ‘Unprecedented’ Crisis, World Food Program Expert Warns

The world faces an “unprecedented” food crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused both severe job losses and major disruptions in food supply chains, the U.N. World Food Programme’s Chief Economist warns. “When you have these severe job losses, or you have big lockdowns, that means that those people become vulnerable,” Arif Husain tells TIME. An estimated 265 million people could go hungry in 2020, nearly double the 2019 figures, according to WFP’s projection in April. As millions around the world are losing their jobs or seeing their incomes cut , it’s increasingly difficult for them to afford food, Husain says. At the same time, lockdown measures and trade restrictions are making it harder to transport food from where it’s produced to where it’s needed, resulting in food going to waste in the field. Refugees and people in conflict zones like Yemen, Syria, and Burkina Faso and those already living hand-to-mouth prior to the coronavirus outbreak are parti...
Read more