Federal lawmakers are calling for an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into reports of price gouging for at-home COVID-19 test kits.
The lawmakers leading the charge are Senators Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
The duo sent a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan Wednesday morning because the conditions that the omicron variant has created is leaving Americans vulnerable to high prices for the test kits.
With the increase in cases, demand for testing has gone through the roof, making it "unfortunately ideal for predatory and profiteering behavior, including the sale of fraudulent test kits or charging exorbitant prices for those that are available," the letter read.
Markey is also sending letters to manufacturers of at-home test kits, asking that they lower the prices of the tests and disclose information about the cost to manufacture them.
Tests have been hard to come by everywhere. In San Diego, a Facebook group of test hunters shared with NPR they have paid upwards of $300 on tests.
After some reports in New York claimed that at-home tests were being sold at double or triple the retail price, New York Attorney General Letita James issued a consumer alert over the potential price gouging.
Related
This continues to be a constant nationwide when testing could mean the difference between putting people at risk and keeping them safe.
Now, Markey is reaching out to test manufacturers over his concern that their price to manufacture them is far less than the prices they are being sold at.
Abbott, Access Bio, ACON Laboratories, Becton, Dickinson & Company, Celltrion USA, Ellume Health, iHealth Labs, InBios International, OraSure Technologies, and Quidel are said to be on Markey's list of companies he is requesting manufacturing costs from, CBS News reported.
Retailers aren't getting overlooked either, as the senator is planning to write Walmart, Kroger, CVS Health, Amazon, Rite Aid, Target, Sam's Club, and Costco, hoping to find details on how they are pricing the at-home tests.
Markey stressed the need for affordable at-home tests in a statement to CBS News, saying Americans need to "protect themselves, their loved ones, and their communities from the spread of COVID-19."
"While the federal government works to increase access to these tests, manufacturers and retailers should sell these critical and necessary tools at cost through the public health emergency," Markey's statement to CBS said. "A pandemic is not a time to wring consumers for profit."
Related
