EXCLUSIVE: Chinese company is charging American medical suppliers more than FOUR TIMES the normal price for necessary masks
A Chinese company is charging American medical suppliers more than four times the normal price for medical masks, while US hospitals resort to begging locals to donate theirs.
A sales document from Wehere Medical in Hangzou, China, obtained by DailyMail.com, shows the company has been quoting suppliers $744 for a pack of 200 medical-grade masks.
Los Angeles-based medical distributors told DailyMail.com that the normal price for the vital items would be just $164 – meaning Wehere had hiked prices by 353%.
The distributors said the company has also switched to only selling packs of 200 top-grade medical masks, rather than their usual packs of 20.
Due to the surge of coronavirus patients, shortages of protective equipment for medical staff are so severe that some hospitals have resorted to taking donated masks, gowns and other equipment from locals.
A sales document from Wehere Medical in Hangzou, China, obtained by DailyMail.com, shows the company has been quoting suppliers $744 for a pack of 200 medical-grade masks, four times the typical price
Los Angeles-based medical distributors told DailyMail.com that the normal price for the vital items would be just $164
Saint Johns Health Center Foundation in Los Angeles set up a 'drive-thru drop off service' in their parking lot to collect protective equipment from nearby donors.
The document from Hangzhou Wehere Medical Technology Co., Ltd is dated March 13.
The highest grade mask, FFP3, is listed at $3.72 per mask with a minimum order of 200 – making a total of $744.It shows a list of quotes for four kinds of masks including an N95 respirator which is one of the standard masks used in US hospitals, FFP2 and FFP3 respirators used in Europe, and a 'medical non-woven mask, 99% filtration rate', used by surgeons to prevent coughing on sneezing on patients.
A Los Angeles-based medical distributor, who asked not to be named, said he usually pays 82 cents per mask, or a total of just $164 for 200 masks.
The distributor said the minimum order had also been hiked, and was usually just 20.
A spokesman for Wehere told DailyMail.com that their price increases were due to a '10 times' increase in the cost of raw materials, and increasing labor costs.
The news follows a crackdown on price gouging in states hit hard by the virus.
Earlier this month California Attorney General Xavier Bercerra vowed to prosecute sellers caught breaking the law which prohibits businesses hiking prices by more than 10% during an emergency.
A spokesman for Wehere told DailyMail.com that their price increases were due to a '10 times' increase in the cost of raw materials, and increasing labor costs, pictured is Wehere Medical in China
'These price-gouging restrictions make it illegal for businesses to raise the prices of most goods and services by more than 10%,' the California AG said. 'Those goods and services include but are not limited to emergency supplies, medicine and medical supplies, food and drink.'
Earlier this month a DailyMail.com investigation found price gougers in Los Angeles selling products at massively inflated prices, including one tube of clorox wipes for $50, one can of Lysol spray for $25 and one roll of toilet paper for $8.
Sellers on second hand app LetGo who have been buying up household cleaning products, baby supplies and toilet paper around Los Angeles then reselling them with price hikes of up to 1,400%.
LA City Attorney Mike Feuer told DailyMail.com his office has had over 200 reports of price gouging last week.
Feuer's staff found two one liter bottles of hand sanitizer for sale for an extortionate $140, and eight half-gallons of bleach for $100.
Under California law, price gougers can face up to a year in jail, a $10,000 fine and restitution to consumers.
'Price gouging of course rips off consumers and wrongfully costs them money,' Feuer said. 'But more than that, the mere listing of a product in an emergency at inflated prices spurs panic, and we all suffer when stores are needlessly in short supply.
'Thanks to dozens of tips from Angelenos on price gouging this past week, we have new investigations open.'
