HHS implements President Trump’s hoarding prevention executive order
Under President Trump’s Executive Order to prevent hoarding of health and medical resources necessary to respond to the spread of COVID-19, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar announced a list of certain health and medical resources that are subject to hoarding prevention measures.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced, “Today, we designated a set of medical products that will be subject to the President’s recent executive order to prevent hoarding and price-gouging. HHS and FEMA will continue working closely together to monitor and address shortages of necessary medical products, and we look forward to working closely with the Department of Justice on hoarding prevention measures. The President will take every possible step to get American healthcare providers the supplies they need to stay safe and save lives.”
President Trump delegated his authority to prevent hoarding of health and medical resources necessary to respond to COVID-19 to Secretary Azar, who is designating a list of health resources or medical resources that are needed to respond to the spread of COVID-19 and are or are likely to be in short supply. This action prevents accumulation in excess of reasonable demands of business, personal, or home consumption, or for the purpose of resale at prices in excess of prevailing market prices.
The designated materials as of March 25, 2020:
· N-95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators
· Other Filtering Facepiece Respirators (e.g., those designated as N99, N100, R95, R99, R100, or P95, P99, P100)
· Elastomeric, air-purifying respirators and appropriate particulate filters/cartridges
· Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR)
· Portable Ventilators
· Chloroquine phosphate or hydroxychloroquine HCl
· Sterilization services for certain medical devices and certain sterilizers
· Disinfecting devices and other sanitizing and disinfecting products suitable for use in a clinical setting
· Medical gowns or apparel, e.g., surgical gowns or isolation gowns
· Personal protective equipment (PPE) coveralls, e.g., Tyvek Suits
· PPE face masks
· PPE surgical masks
· PPE face shields
· PPE gloves or surgical gloves
· Ventilators, anesthesia gas machines modified for use as ventilators, and positive pressure breathing devices modified for use as ventilators, ventilator tubing connectors, and ventilator accessories
Designated materials are subject to periodic review by the Secretary.
