The Federal Emergency Management Agency has paid $7.3 million since May to supply it with test tubes for COVID-19 testing, according to an article on the Becker’s Hospital Review website.
The test tubes were ordered from a small Houston-area company formed in May , but instead of receiving standard test tubes, FEMA received plastic tubes made for bottling soda, which state health officials say are unusable.
The plastic tubes are much cheaper than glass vials and can be sealed off with a soda bottle cap. When inflated with high-pressure air, they expand to the size of a 2-liter soda bottle.
The company was formed by a former telemarketer who repeatedly has been accused of fraud in the last two decades, ProPublica reported.
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