“Our real estate activity being at a standstill, I lend a helping hand to a friend who imports Covid-19 products […]. Delivery within 4 working days after payment ”. "Entrepreneuse can produce between 50,000 and 100,000 FFP2 per week distributed within 15 days ... but paid". Jean-Paul Hamon has received a lot of such messages since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic. SMS, emails and phone calls. "They even call me on my cell phone!" », Is astonished the president of the Federation of doctors of France.
At the other end of the line, the interlocutor is difficult to identify. But the process remains the same: sell the most popular products of the moment, surgical masks and FFP2. "Often they present themselves as import-export companies," says the doctor. I imagine that they are not all crooks, but some try their luck by offering them at very high prices. They make a profit by the way. ”
Individuals are also embarking "on this shallot race", according to Jean-Paul Hamon. "A lady offered to give me some and when I called her back, I had to pay." Another went so far as to introduce himself as a CNRS scientist. “When I asked him where his masks came from, he said to me from Albania, says Jean-Paul Hamon. If the government did its job, we would not be there! "
"Some sell it like caviar"
With the epidemic, a market has opened up. "Some are like crazy, it's unbelievable," breathes Dr. Philippe Cuq, president of the Union of Surgeons of France, who also receives "advertising emails". Despite the current tensions over these precious protections, doctors say they did not buy these masks. The provenance and the quality remain impossible to trace. "As soon as I receive a proposal in my mailbox, it's direct trash," says Jacques Battistoni, head of the union of general practitioners MG France.
This new business worries, however, the caregivers. "Ethically, this is not possible! Exclaims Dr. Laurent Uzan, cardiologist in Paris, who receives up to two calls a day. On the phone, it is often "people who come from someone". The prices are far from being friend prices. “Some sell it as caviar at 15 euros for the FFP2 when it costs less than a euro per unit. It's the Wild West. ” The doctor repeats it, he calls for "regulation".
"We receive emails without letterheads from completely opaque suppliers," rebounds Dr. Marie Msika Razon, general practitioner. Height of exasperation, on a group of doctors on Facebook, a message proposed FFP2 at 3.50 euros with a delivery price of 150 euros while at the same time, pharmacies distribute the masks dropper to caregivers . "We just gave me 18, it's a miraculous catch," jokes Doctor Razon.
This phenomenon affects "a large number of doctors", supports Bruno Boyer, president of the "public health" section of the national council of the Order of Physicians, himself concerned. Questioned by these emails, the doctor noticed that they often came from companies that were not professionals in the medical sector and displayed prices up to 30 times higher. "If it gets bigger, it would deserve a legal review," he warns. It is not acceptable for companies to take advantage of the crisis to enrich themselves. "
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But what is the rule? Joined by the Parisian, the Ministry of Economy explains "that only a company already specialized in the sale of medical equipment can sell it if it gets its supplies from foreign actors". French masks are requisitioned. As for prices, this is where the shoe pinches. Unlike hydroalcoholic gel, it is not framed. The Ministry of the Economy recommends reporting any questionable approach on the “Signal conso” site of the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumption and the Suppression of Fraud.