The Trump Administration Paid Millions for Test Tubes--and Got Unusable Mini Soda Bottles

[highplainsdem]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by JudyM (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Mother Jones

Since May, the Trump administration has paid a fledgling Texas company $7.3 million for test tubes needed in tracking the spread of the coronavirus nationwide. But, instead of the standard vials, Fillakit LLC has supplied plastic tubes made for bottling soda, which state health officials say are unusable.

The state officials say that these “preforms,” which are designed to be expanded with heat and pressure into 2-liter soda bottles, don’t fit the racks used in laboratory analysis of test samples. Even if the bottles were the right size, experts say, the company’s process likely contaminated the tubes and could yield false test results. Fillakit employees, some not wearing masks, gathered the miniature soda bottles with snow shovels and dumped them into plastic bins before squirting saline into them, all in the open air, according to former employees and ProPublica’s observation of the company’s operations.

“It wasn’t even clean, let alone sterile,” said Teresa Green, a retired science teacher who worked at Fillakit’s makeshift warehouse outside of Houston for two weeks before leaving out of frustration.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency signed its first deal with Fillakit on May 7, just six days after the company was formed by an ex-telemarketer repeatedly accused of fraudulent practices over the past two decades. Fillakit has supplied a total of more than 3 million tubes, which FEMA then approved and sent to all 50 states. If the company fulfills its contractual obligation to provide 4 million tubes, it will receive a total of $10.16 million.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.motherjones.com/coronavirus-updates/2020/06/the-trump-administration-paid-millions-for-test-tubes-and-got-unusable-mini-soda-bottles/

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Well, if you're trying to slow down testing, I guess that's one way to do it...

[Doodley]

1. By Trump standards, this would go in the success column.

[PSPS]

2. A campaign contributor, no doubt. And $2.50 each for a 1-cent (useless) item.

[Initech]

3. Shit like this is why people are predicting this virus is going to be around forever.

[Beartracks]

8. Shit like this is also why people say, "Government doesn't work." Ironically...

... Republicans are more likely to claim that government is "the problem," when getting Republicans OUT of government is precisely the thing that will, in most cases, SOLVE that problem!

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[Buckeye_Democrat]

4. Lol! I briefly worked at a place that made those preforms.

Not a clean work environment, to say the least.

I assumed the preforms were thoroughly cleaned before being expanded into bigger bottles (by other companies), because they definitely needed it!

[Mersky]

5. Well, this swindle just caps my flask.

FEMA’s done a heckuva job getting scammed. More wasted resources under tRump’s regime.

[Beartracks]

9. Republicans don't call taxpayer money wasted if goes to a loyal crony somewhere. n/t

[mozan]

6. Who payed

Should change title to "We the people payed millions for junk"

[Warpy]

7. What they got were plastic bottle preforms

Bottling companies inject steam or superheated air to inflate them into molds and clean them at the same time. Then they're filled with soda or sweet tea or booze or whatever.

Some of the preforms look like they're the same shape as glass test tubes, so some loyalist moron thought he'd get some points for saving money on sterile glass test tubes by going to plastic, instead, without asking anybody why an inert glass tube was preferable to a somewhat reactive plastic tube or why sterility was so important.

These people are so damned dumb that not only do they not know what they're doing, they don't know which questions to ask about it or who needs to be asked.

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. They were approved by FEMA before being sent to the states

Somehow, somewhere, someone paid somebody off.

[Bengus81]

10. Oh hell....when first reading I thought Halliburton made them

Bush could teach Trump lessons on how to FUCK taxpayers out of billions for his and Darth Vader's buddies.

[Beartracks]

11. FEMA signed with Fillakit just 6 days after it was formed by an ex-telemarketer accused of fraud.

Seriously, how does a newly-formed company land a deal with the government within one week, unless there was a connection somewhere.

=========

[JudyM]

12. If we take the Senate and the WH we really have to pass some purchasing (and governing) standards

into law, preferably as a constitutional amendment, if at all possible.

[applegrove]

13. Because businessmen are better at procurement than government experts! (Sarcasm)

[UpInArms]

15. more from your link

The preforms arrive at Fillakit’s warehouse in a huge shipping container. The tubes are then shoveled into smaller bins. Workers add the saline solution and screw on caps. The tubes are then loosely piled in bags and sent to FEMA, which forwards them to the states. Typically, test tubes are individually packaged to guard against contamination.

Washington state, an epicenter of the first outbreak of the virus, got more than 76,000 Fillakit vials from FEMA. None can be used.

“They were packaged unusually,” said Frank Ameduri, a spokesman for the state Health Department. “Not in a way we’re used to seeing, and they were not labeled. Some of them have been sent to our lab for quality control. None of the vials will be used until we’ve identified what’s in them and that they are safe for use.”

dotard's next book:

FUBAR
How to F*** everything up

[JudyM]

16. Locking

Alerted on for having been been published outside LBN-allowable date. This was published Thursday, as shown in this post: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213613576
Important news, 12-hour posting rule say it can’t in LBN today, though.