Coronavirus epidemic is a real possibility here, and hospital personnel are rightfully concerned about having access to necessary supplies for supportive care.
In coronavirus pandemic, people may die due to shortages of 'commodity' hospital supplies such as normal saline bags.
Citizens may not be aware that hospitals frequently undergo shortages of critical supplies such as saline bags.
Shortages of common hospital commodities are widely believed to be caused by Congressional protection of GBO's UNIQUE "safe harbor" exemption from Federal Anti-Kickback law.
(GBOs or GPOs are Group Buying Organizations).
Read the following article, one of many posted article links on the website physiciansagainstdrugshortages.com:
Identifying the Root Cause of Drug Shortages: A Call to Action"
Anesthesiology News, Oct. 25, 2018
Written by John G. Brock-Utne, MD, PhDProfessor of Anesthesiology (Emeritus)Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California
The article begins:
"How could drug shortages happen in a free enterprise country like the United States?
Actually, it’s pretty simple: There is a kickback system approved
by Congress that has undermined competition and profitability in
the drug/IV fluid market.
How? Because many drugmakers and other suppliers have been
locked out of the hospital marketplace by group purchasing
organizations (GPOs), which contract for most of the drugs and
supplies used in 5,000 American hospitals and other facilities...."
If Congress, specifically Chuck Schumer who is the primary champion of GBOs' safe harbor exemption, do not address measures to prevent predictable shortages of hospital commodities before a predictable pandemic hits, there will be blood on their hands.
Not that blood may be of any concern to them, but it should be a concern to voters and civilians affected by preventable tragedy caused by Political Industry self-enrichment practices.
https://www.physiciansagainstdrugshortages.com/articles-on-gpos.html
A summary of devastating effects and history of GBO practices in Barron's:
https://bulletin.facs.org/2018/11/drug-shortages-the-invisible-epidemic/