3M Supports Efforts to Curb Pandemic Profiteers
March 24 2020 - 4:29PM
Business Wire
Today, 3M Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mike Roman
delivered the following letter to William Barr, attorney general of
the United States; Larry Hogan, governor of Maryland and chair of
the National Governors Association; and Tim Fox, attorney general
of Montana and president of the National Association of Attorneys
General, highlighting 3M's actions to curb counterfeiting and price
gouging of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19
pandemic. The letter also urges federal and state governments and
law enforcement officials to continue to lead the fight, with 3M’s
support and assistance, against those who are exploiting the crisis
by marketing counterfeit products or gouging the public. ...
Dear Attorney General Barr, Governor Hogan, and Attorney General
Fox:
On behalf of 3M and our 96,000 employees worldwide, I would like
to offer our support as you protect the public from counterfeiting
and price-gouging with respect to critical medical devices,
including the respirators and masks that are critical to our
country’s medical personnel.
This pandemic is affecting us all. 3M is doing all that it can
to support public health and those impacted by this global health
crisis. We are mobilizing all available resources and rapidly
increasing output of critical supplies healthcare workers in the
United States and around the world need to help protect their lives
as they treat others.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, 3M has doubled its output of N95
respirators. We are running our manufacturing lines around the
clock seven days a week, hiring workers, adding shifts, and
activating more production lines. In addition, 3M is increasing its
investment to expand its global capacity for manufacturing these
respirators by more than 30 percent in the next 12 months. Here in
the U.S., 3M currently manufactures more than 400 million N95
respirators annually. This production capacity, as well as our
increased production of hand sanitizers and disinfectants, is
critical to supporting healthcare workers and first responders. We
are also in the process of working with logistics providers and
large e-marketplace operators on a coordinated strategy and action
plan to ensure products rapidly get to where they are needed
most.
3M has not increased the prices it charges for respirators as a
result of this global crisis. 3M will not increase its current
pricing for respirators being used to help address the
pandemic.
We assume you have seen the many reports of fraudulent activity
and price gouging involving medical devices, including our N95
respirators. We are currently providing assistance directly to the
public to help curb this activity:
https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1803670O/fraudulent-activity-and-counterfeit-products.pdf.
We are also in the process of working with large e-marketplace
operators on a coordinated strategy and action plan to identify and
remove counterfeiters and price-gougers and to refer them to the
appropriate law enforcement authorities. In addition, we would
welcome the opportunity to provide assistance to you as you seek to
identify and hold individuals and organizations accountable for
making counterfeit respirators or inflating prices.
We will continue to do all we can to support healthcare workers
and those on the front lines combatting the COVID-19 outbreak. We
stand ready to work with federal and state governments to end
unethical actions that exploit this global pandemic and threaten
those working so hard to protect public health and safety.
Respectfully,
Mike Roman
3M Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
About 3M
At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives
daily. With $32 billion in sales, our 96,000 employees connect with
customers all around the world. Learn more about 3M’s creative
solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M
or @3MNews.
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Jennifer Ehrlich (651) 736-9430
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