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People go to resellers for evidence of covid-19

2022-01-07T21:26:12.938Z


The increase in demand for covid-19 tests is driving the resale market due to shortages in pharmacies and healthcare facilities.


Covid-19 rapid test prices rise 0:52

(CNN Business) -  

When Patrick Kennedy, a New York night scene artist, tested positive for COVID-19 recently, he was quick to find more rapid tests not only to monitor his health, but to find out when he might. go back to work.


"It is impossible to find evidence of covid due to the shortage in the city," said Kennedy, who works part-time to pay his bills.


"I want to go back to work, but I need to make sure I'm taking the proper precautions and not exposing anyone else."

After waiting in long lines at testing centers and visiting pharmacies to buy quick tests, to no avail, she came across an Instagram post from someone she went to high school with offering to sell them to people directly - $ 20 for each trial, plus a $ 5 delivery fee;

cheaper than some tests found in pharmacies.

Kennedy bought five.

Kennedy is among a growing number of people who have turned to sites like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Craigslist, LinkedIn, or eBay for a home covid test, as they sell out at pharmacies across the country and Lines at test centers can be hours long.

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Kennedy's former partner Joey, an electrician who asked not to share his name for privacy reasons, bought a batch of 100 test kits from a friend who works at a healthcare company.

"I have to get tested for work, so it was getting really annoying to have to wait in the clinic for three hours, and sometimes, not even get one," Joey told CNN, noting that he has paid up to $ 45 for two tests in pharmacies.

"It just wasn't sustainable."

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After buying 100 tests in bulk for $ 900 (about $ 9 each), he began offering them on Facebook and Instagram to people in his local community.

Joey relates that he sold 25 in one night, and 45 the next day;

many of the buyers were strangers and parents, needing proof to send their children back to school after winter break.

I was one of them.

Covid evidence shortage

After a long winter break, my son was due to return to preschool on Monday morning. A negative covid test was required, and the only one we had was inconclusive. As we isolated ourselves in the days before, panic washed over me: where would we find another test amid the shortages in the New York area in time for school the next day? After seeing Joey's post on a local parenting group on Facebook, I did one 45 minutes later without leaving the house. I was left with many questions: Was this ethical? Is the test even valid?

"I'm not looking to make a killing," Joey told me later.

"I had access to the evidence, I wasn't hoarding or overselling it at a pharmacy, and it's almost criminal for people to be waiting in lines for hours in the cold, probably getting sicker. I decided to deliver it directly to homes."

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Facebook told CNN Business that it prohibits the sale of test kits on its platforms and that it has a system for regulators and law enforcement to report behavior that they consider illegal or contrary to their standards.

eBay, TikTok and Craigslist did not respond to a request for comment.

It is LinkedIn's policy to remove any post that is intended to sell any item, whether or not it is related to the pandemic.

The emergence of COVID-19 test resales comes at a time when frustrated Americans are struggling to get tested and face long lines amid increased demand following travel and holiday gatherings.

Amazon, CVS Health, and Walgreens are limiting the number of covid test kits customers can buy at home.

Walmart recently raised the prices of some of its rapid covid tests from $ 14 to $ 20 for two.

Experts say that reselling kits in small quantities and without a large markup is not illegal, and neither is buying these products, but there are risks for both buyers and sellers.

"We have received reports that unauthorized vendors are trying to cash in on the pandemic by selling covid-19 tests online," Washington Attorney General Karl Racine wrote in a tweet Tuesday.

"Please be careful and only buy the tests through authorized retailers where you can ensure the integrity of your test."

The Federal Trade Commission recently published a guide on how to avoid buying fake covid tests online.

Recommendations include researching buyers, paying by credit card to dispute the charge if you are scammed, and only purchasing kits approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The Biden administration recently pledged to distribute 500 million free tests at home, but it is unclear when a website will be implemented for Americans to request these tests or when they will be shipped.

A senior government official told CNN last week that "all the details are being worked out. And we will have them in the next few weeks."

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The administration also said reimbursement for home tests will begin next week through insurance companies.

An opportunity for another pandemic second-hand market

Meanwhile, Joey is doing good business.

But his efforts were met with mixed reactions;

Some people on Facebook criticized his profit from reselling tests, while others came to his defense: "This guy is not abusing prices at all and is taking an opportunity to make things easier for people. He is even willing to do deliveries ... wow! "

Eventually, the group's moderator withdrew Joey's post.

The reason was not notified.

Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine, said the trend has also emerged in his local parent Facebook group in Connecticut.

"A resale market that skews the availability of testing to those who can pay for it is completely a reflection of the government's failure at the national and state level to provide adequate testing," he said.

"Does it surprise me that a resale market has started to flourish? Not at all. There are a lot of places that say you can't come here if you don't have a negative test, but there is no proof. That is, for most people. of the resale market, an opportunity ".

Beyond fairness issues, buying COVID-19 tests from strangers is exposing yourself to fraud - people don't know who they are or what they really offer.

"It is unethical to speculate on prices in the face of panic and shortages, but it will continue," Caplan said.

"As for the people who buy them, what are they going to do? They can't find proof otherwise. I can't blame someone for wanting to protect their child, but you have to remember then that the person who sells you something in the Resale market could sell you something that is not going to work. "

It is not the first time that a secondary market has emerged during the pandemic.

In the spring of 2020, the shortage of protective equipment caused a resale market to emerge.

"We used some [at the NYU hospital], but they often broke, ripped, or didn't meet manufacturing standards," Caplan said.

"Sometimes people in the resale market would take the money and never deliver the equipment."

It is also not the first time that these issues of scarcity and equity have been raised during the pandemic.

Early last year, healthcare provider One Medical was investigated for allowing the friends and family of its executives and its wealthiest clients to skip the lines to get vaccinated.

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Although the resale of covid-19 tests is not overtly illegal, Jessica Rich, a former FTC official who worked on consumer protection issues, said that if there is any collusive behavior between entities or individuals, or any misleading claims that is done in connection with sales, then perhaps some state laws may apply, such as the FTC Law Prohibiting Deceptive or Improper Practices or the Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts and Practices Act (UDAAP).

"If someone sells a small number, like a couple dozen, a federal agency is not going to take action against someone who does this on that scale, especially if it is open about the price," Rich said.

However, taking advantage of the pandemic could end badly for sellers.

In the early days of the pandemic, Matt and Noah Colvin rose to fame for hoarding and selling hand sanitizers.

Markets like Amazon and eBay pulled their listings and warned others that they could lose their accounts.

They ended up with more than 17,000 bottles and nowhere to sell them, according to The New York Times.

(One of the brothers later repented and donated the supplies to a charity.)

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A Craigslist seller, who asked to remain anonymous, said they began reselling tests after waiting in line for hours, missing work, and paying a premium for PCR results without insurance, hoping to get some of their money back. . "I feel a little bad inflating the price, but the covid has made my job difficult and I need to pay the rent," the ad read. "I had to call more than 50 pharmacies on the way from Washington to find them." The seller told CNN Business that he would personally pay double to skip the lines and get results quickly if possible.

Some, like Joey, have been banned from Facebook groups.

Russell Schwartz and his wife Katherine Quirk-Schwartz, a nurse, run a South Florida Facebook page that connects people to covid-19-related resources.

In recent weeks, they have shifted the focus of the group, shifting from helping people find vaccines to helping members locate home test kits.

Schwartz said he has expelled people from the group for trying to sell evidence.

"Our biggest fear is that there are people taking advantage of our pool because of the size, population and demographics of the older users," Quirk-Schwartz said.

- CNN Business's Jennifer Korn contributed to this report.

covid-19 test

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-01-07

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