The U.S. Tried to Build a New Fleet of Ventilators. The Mission Failed.

www.nytimes.com...

FYI - the New York Times (and many other reputable outlets) are offering all their pandemic coverage for free and outside the paywall. If you run into any trouble you may have to sign up to their mailing list to get coverage.

When I was young, I was taught that conservatism was about being prepared and maintaining those assets. Neo-liberalism as practiced by the majority of both US political parties is not fiscally conservative in any way shape or form. As practiced, is is viscous profiteering, Capitalism at it's very worst.

I share a tale of the continuing saga of "What Capitalism Rules the World".....

This is not a sound bite.

Thirteen years ago, a group of U.S. public health officials came up with a plan to address what they regarded as one of the medical system’s crucial vulnerabilities: a shortage of ventilators.

And then things suddenly veered off course. A multibillion-dollar maker of medical devices bought the small California company that had been hired to design the new machines. The project ultimately produced zero ventilators.

The stalled efforts to create a new class of cheap, easy-to-use ventilators highlight the perils of outsourcing projects with critical public-health implications to private companies; their focus on maximizing profits is not always consistent with the government’s goal of preparing for a future crisis.

…the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, with a mandate to prepare medical responses to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks, as well as infectious diseases. …. It estimated that an additional 70,000 machines would be required in a moderate influenza pandemic.

The ventilators were to cost less than $3,000 each.

Ventilators at the time typically went for about $10,000 each, and getting the price down to $3,000 would be tough. But Newport’s executives bet they would be able to make up for any losses by selling the ventilators around the world. … With luck, the new generation of ventilators would become ubiquitous, helping hospitals nationwide better prepare for a crisis.

The small company got bought out by a bigger company. Then that company was bought by an even bigger company.

Government officials and executives at rival ventilator companies said they suspected that Covidien had acquired Newport to prevent it from building a cheaper product that would undermine Covidien’s profits from its existing ventilator business.

Last week, the Health and Human Services Department contacted ventilator makers to see how soon they could produce thousands of machines. And it began pressing Philips to speed up its planned shipments.

The stockpile is “still awaiting delivery of the Trilogy Evo,” a Health and Human Services spokeswoman said. “We do not currently have any in inventory, though we are expecting them soon.”

So old broken down ventilators in the strategic stockpile – no easier to use, more cost effective ventilators….

a reply to: FyreByrd

You stating that the New York Times is a reputable outlet made me skip the rest of your OP.

I'm assuming capitalism bad, socialism good?

Firebird I will take this from the opposite side, and argue that if you were a corporation, climbing into bed with the government is your first mistake.

Government money is like heroin; if the government actually does come through with the pay money, your company will get so addicted to the waste, it won't be able to compete in the actual free market.

There was a time when general dynamics made a host of consumer products- the best in the biz. There was a time when GD made the best refrigerators washing machines etc. etc. but then they started building boats for the Navy, now they can barely do that well.

If you own a small to midsize company that winds up with a government contract, you'd discover very quickly the kind of executives who show up to help out. They are focused on lobbying the government, instead of answering the call from the marketplace. And the government is capricious. There's no way to predict what the policy will be in the next election cycle. And the tension entices people to ignore the market and just worship at the altar of government. To paraphrase an old saying, those who can compete, do; those who can't… Landed government contract.

There was a time when every major American auto maker made a police package for squad cars. And Harley Davidson owned police motorcycle units. Every company that did that he's facing bankruptcy now. Government is nowhere near as reliable as the free market as a source of future earnings.

Not to denigrate. Or minimize your point. It's a bad idea all around for both government and for private industry.

The government has been ignoring its contracts since before they promised to leave the Black Hills to the Sioux nation.

" as long as the wind blows, grass grows, and the sky is blue… "

a reply to: FyreByrd

The suspect company that foiled the ventillators from being made is named Covidien too.

You can't make this stuff up because it'd sound too obvious and corny.

Our healthcare system has been lacking for years, long before this administration came into office.



Hopefully, after this time of dire need, maybe our medical field will be put back on the top of the list where it should have been this whole time. Corporates' be damned.

And keep all necessary medical items fully stocked for future pandemics or other medical disasters.


Prayers to all those on the fronlines in hospitals and such.





My sister is a PRN in Mobile and they have run out of N95 masks (they are specially fitted for their faces to prevent air leaks) and now they have one mask to use for ALL their patients.

No excuse whatsoever to run out of the basic needs like masks!!

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: FyreByrd

You stating that the New York Times is a reputable outlet made me skip the rest of your OP.

I'm assuming capitalism bad, socialism good?

I wouldn't know because they charge money to be able to read their articles.

originally posted by: FlyingSquirrel
a reply to: FyreByrd

The suspect company that foiled the ventilators from being made is named Covidien too.

You can't make this stuff up because it'd sound too obvious and corny.

LOl its the NY Times, of course, it could be made up. That's part of the problem we have no one viable source of news anymore if we ever did. Now however you have to view every article with a skeptical eye.

Regardless its a ventilator can't be that hard to get the ball rolling and knocking some of them out

Double your pleasure, double your fun

Here’s how to build a ventilator in your garage...

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: FyreByrd

You stating that the New York Times is a reputable outlet made me skip the rest of your OP.

I'm assuming capitalism bad, socialism good?

You're just a mental case jebus... Ffs... Wtf are you talking about

a reply to: FyreByrd

I'm in biomed, and let me tell you the amount of waste that goes on on medical equipment is no surprise.

I'm betting, had biomed policies weren't 'trash it, order a new one', this deficit wouldn't be this astronomical.

originally posted by: odzeandennz

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: FyreByrd

You stating that the New York Times is a reputable outlet made me skip the rest of your OP.

I'm assuming capitalism bad, socialism good?

You're just a mental case jebus... Ffs... Wtf are you talking about

Quoted for irony, considering your post.

I'm a mental case because you don't understand basic English.

a reply to: FyreByrd

Fine thread Mr. Byrd. However, upon opening the thread, the first thing I saw was the link and the first thought that passed through my head was I wonder how long it will take for someone to discount the whole of the information you posted. Not long at all, hey what?

Its not ventilators, but I saw 9 line apparel is scraping everything they do currently to make masks and sell them at no more than cost possibly less to health care workers, CEO believes they can make 10s of millions with a quickness and refuses to try and make a profit on it, understanding fully that it may bankrupt the company.

If you didnt know 9 line is a veteran owned company, that sees a need has the capability to try and fill it and once again they are willing to bet the farm on helping.

ETA: I would not be surprised to see more stepping up to fill the gap left by the big corporation failures.

originally posted by: TerryMcGuire
a reply to: FyreByrd

Fine thread Mr. Byrd. However, upon opening the thread, the first thing I saw was the link and the first thought that passed through my head was I wonder how long it will take for someone to discount the whole of the information you posted. Not long at all, hey what?

Considering the source is part of critical thinking.

Even you knew that when you saw the source.

But yea... I'm the bad person in this scenario.

Here's another one... from the LA times (you can get one free article a month - get around it by clearing cache).

Amid coronavirus, Army vets fought to mass produce $100 ventilators. They hit roadblocks

www.latimes.com...

For the last month, Army reservist Lt. Col. Kamal Kalsi, an emergency room doctor in New York, has been scrambling to find a way to quickly mass produce ventilators, equipment that could save the lives of thousands of coronavirus victims nationwide.

Two weeks ago, he thought he’d found a company in Sacramento with the perfect answer.

But then, as he tells it, necessity took a back seat to business.

The firm Kalsi contacted wanted tens of millions of dollars before it would help him,

“This just needs to happen,” said Kalsi, a disaster medicine specialist who ran triage hospitals in Afghanistan.

“If we don’t get ventilators in the next week or two in New York, it’s going to be a bloodbath.”

The ventilator Kalsi sees as the solution is the Go2Vent, made by Vortran Medical in Sacramento and sold for about $100 each, though there is no proof it could be the panacea that he envisions.

Vortran’s founder and chief medical officer, Dr. Gordon Wong, declined to comment, other than to say Friday he was close to inking a mass production deal with a venture capital-backed manufacturer in Chicago.

I call that Vulture Capitalism

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: FyreByrd

You stating that the New York Times is a reputable outlet made me skip the rest of your OP.

I'm assuming capitalism bad, socialism good?

I'm sorry you feel that way about factual reporting.

a reply to: Lumenari

Considering the source is part of critical thinking.

Absolutely. But discounting information because it is reported in a source designated ''fake'' by some who do not like that information is not critical thinking. It's just like always voting dem or repub as in voting the party line.

Even you knew that when you saw the source.

Of course I did. I have not automatically trusted big media for decades. That goes for the Times as well.

But yea... I'm the bad person in this scenario.

No, not a bad person but rather a person who by their own admission is willing to forego their own critical thinking because they do not have the faith in themselves to consider the information on it's own merits.

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: FyreByrd

You stating that the New York Times is a reputable outlet made me skip the rest of your OP.

I'm assuming capitalism bad, socialism good?

Apparently the government took money raised by the capitalist system. Attempted to socialize the manufacturing of ventilators. Completely failed at any oversight including making sure the order was fill. And then blaming capitalist when the government fails at simple tasks.