Pre-sold N95 in the live broadcast room and turned it into a dust mask
Journalists investigate the chaos in the sale of epidemic-related materials
Our reporter Sun Tianjiao
In the live broadcast room, the anchor swears that they are selling N95 masks, but the linked product suddenly turns into a KN95 mask during the panic buying. After the consumers place an order in a hurry, what they receive is a PM2.5 dust mask...
This is the experience that Mr. Han, a Tianjin resident, encountered at the end of 2022.
With the development of the epidemic situation, the demand for epidemic-related materials has increased.
However, a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" found that online and offline, there are endless problems such as false propaganda and exaggerated efficacy of epidemic-related materials, wrong products, and counterfeit and shoddy products.
Recently, many places have notified the chaos of epidemic-related materials, and the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other departments have successively issued documents to crack down on the chaos of epidemic-related materials sales.
A number of interviewed experts believe that some merchants are trying to "make money from the epidemic" and sell illegally under the "edge ball" of the new crown, which disrupts the market order and endangers the health of the people. The relevant departments must resolutely crack down on it. The platform must also bear corresponding responsibilities.
"Special drugs" tempting to snap up
false advertising exaggeration
Mr. Han told reporters that at that time, he found a live broadcast room selling masks on a well-known short video platform. The host promised that the masks sold were N95, which could effectively protect against the new crown virus, and the limited number of masks needed to be snapped up.
Because he hadn’t bought an N95 mask some time ago, and the live broadcast room was very hot and there were many people online, Mr. Han hurriedly placed an order. After placing the order, he found that the product link showed a KN95 mask.
"That's all, but I didn't expect to take it apart after half a month, and it turned out to be a PM2.5 dust mask." Mr. Han said rather angrily. He paid 92.8 yuan for 50 masks and was going to When looking for the anchor theory, I found that the relevant store had been closed and the anchor had disappeared without a trace.
Although Mr. Han negotiated with the platform to refund the money later, he still couldn't let go of his anger-it made people wait for such a long time; if someone didn't pay attention to wearing this mask and went out and got infected, who would be responsible?
The reporter noticed that on the online platform, it is not uncommon to sell epidemic-related materials irregularly, resell epidemic-related materials by "skimming the ball" and even illegally sell them.
"The world's first oral drug for new crown, not much in stock, come if you know what it is" "Special drug for new crown, absolute hard currency. If you understand it, you will understand it naturally" "XX special oral drug for new crown, take the drug within 3 days of symptoms, and the patient is hospitalized or dies The risk of the disease can be reduced by 89%"... The information that "there is a special medicine for the new crown" was all the rage on the Internet.
The reporter's inquiry found that the so-called "special effects drugs" of the new crown, such as Pfizer Paxlovid, are all prescription drugs, but there are many scalpers selling such "special effects drugs" on various social platforms and online circles of friends, and there are even sales of imitation "special effects drugs". "The scalper information.
According to experts, this kind of generic drug has not been approved by the relevant departments of our country, which is illegal, and there is a safety risk in self-medication.
There are also "immunoglobulins" that have been rumored to have "special effects" on the new crown virus. There are a large number of acquisitions and sales information on some social networking platforms and second-hand platforms, which claim to increase resistance to prevent new crowns.
Under the rush of buying, the price of intravenous human immunoglobulin has risen, and it has been fired to more than 3,000 yuan a bottle.
This has led many doctors to stand up and appeal: Immunoglobulin is not anti-new crown, do not hoard it, and leave it to those who really need it.
Hu Yang, Deputy Chief Physician of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai Third-A Hospital, told reporters that gamma globulin is extracted from the blood of healthy people, and the main component is antibodies. new crown.
At the same time, since the globulin needs to be injected into the body, there are certain risks, such as allergies, among individuals who inject at will without professional guidance.
Not only immunoglobulin, but even wine has become an "anti-epidemic weapon" on the Internet-in a video advertisement of a certain wine, it appeared "According to expert statistics, people who drink alcohol all the year round can resist the new crown virus: the anti-virus ability is better than that of people who do not drink." Human height is 68.3%", etc.
Liu Junhai, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China, believes that this behavior of using the epidemic to promote and sell products is not only suspected of false propaganda, but also illegally promotes the function of disease treatment for non-drugs, which violates the advertising law, and some products deliberately borrow some well-known brands of epidemic-related materials when promoting , causing confusion among consumers and violating the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
Product quality varies
Illegal sales without capital
Recently, oximeters and oxygen concentrators have become popular again.
The reporter searched with this keyword on multiple e-commerce platforms and found that the prices of finger-clip oximeters vary greatly, ranging from tens of yuan to one or two thousand yuan. Many stores show that they are out of stock, and some are in the pre-sale status.
Among them, the monthly sales volume of a certain oximeter has reached more than 300,000.
Hu Yang told reporters that it is of positive significance to bring your own oximeter and other instruments for health monitoring. However, the quality of oximeters, oxygen concentrators and other instruments currently on the market is uneven, and the parameters obtained by self-monitoring at home may not be accurate. "I once received a patient, and the self-test of the oximeter showed that the blood oxygen saturation was too low, but the blood test data after seeing the doctor showed normal."
In the process of selling materials related to the epidemic, some sellers took advantage of the opportunity, or passed off inferior products as good ones, passed them off as real ones, or drove up prices and sold them at high prices, which was the reality of illegal sales.
Recently, the law enforcement officers of the Market Supervision Bureau of Qijiang District, Chongqing conducted a sampling inspection of "medical disposable protective clothing" operated by a company in Chongqing. The inspection conclusion was unqualified, involving 3,000 sets of protective clothing.
The company will be punished administratively for operating medical disposable protective clothing that does not meet national standards.
Yuan Cheng, a lawyer from Beijing Yinghe Law Firm, said that the behavior of unscrupulous merchants who know and sell fake and shoddy anti-epidemic products is very bad. Illegal income, ordered to suspend production and business for rectification, revoke drug approval certificates, and impose a fine of 15 times to 30 times the value of illegally produced and sold drugs.
Constitute a crime, be held criminally responsible.
In December last year, many people experienced the shortage of antigen kits, and also saw the price of antigen kits on the Internet and Moments skyrocketed.
In addition to antigen reagents, epidemic-related materials such as antipyretics and thermometers have been sold at high prices.
Correspondingly, various places have intensified their crackdown efforts.
For example, Zhengzhou "Xiaoyaoyao" Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd. used the online "Yaobang" App wholesale platform to drive up the price of ibuprofen tablets to pharmaceutical retailers, pharmacies, and clinics across the country. After two successive price increases, the price of ibuprofen tablets has increased from 2.33 yuan per bottle to 2.43 yuan per bottle, rose to 19.8 yuan per bottle, and the number of drugs involved in the case reached more than 30,000 bottles.
On December 29, 2022, the Zhengzhou Municipal Market Supervision Bureau delivered an administrative penalty notice to the "Xiaoyaoyao" company, planning to fine it 2.6 million yuan.
Yuan Cheng said that according to relevant regulations, relevant departments monitor drug prices, investigate and deal with illegal drug price acts such as price monopoly and price gouging, and operators fabricate and disseminate price increase information, drive up prices, and promote commodity prices. Order to make corrections, confiscate illegal gains, and impose a fine; if the circumstances are serious, order to suspend business for rectification, or revoke the business license.
It is worth noting that the sale of epidemic-related materials in the circle of friends and private accounts on social media is also suspected of breaking the law.
According to my country's Drug Administration Law, the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices" and other relevant laws and regulations, whether it is traditional Chinese medicine or Western medicine, it is necessary to obtain a drug business license to engage in drug retail activities; Medical device business license.
"Operations without qualifications shall be banned in accordance with the law, the illegally produced and sold drugs and illegal income shall be confiscated, and a fine of 2 to 5 times the value of the illegally produced and sold drugs shall be imposed; Responsibility." Yuan Cheng said.
Crack down on chaos according to law
Relevant platforms are also responsible
Relevant departments and local governments are taking action to crack down on the chaotic sales of epidemic-related materials.
In December 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation will transfer the initially discovered online pharmacies suspected of driving up prices to the relevant provincial market supervision departments for investigation and investigation.
At the same time, the "Reminder and Caution on the Price and Competition Order of Epidemic-Related Materials" was also issued, drawing a red line of "nine must-nots" for producers and operators of epidemic-related materials.
On January 5 this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued another document, putting forward six requirements for the production and sales of epidemic prevention supplies and livelihood supplies to further implement the main responsibility for quality and safety.
Recently, the Food and Drug Crime Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security issued a notice, requiring local public security food and drug investigation departments to give full play to their functions and take effective measures to crack down on the illegal production and sale of counterfeit goods and counterfeiting of epidemic-related drugs and related supplies in accordance with the law. Activity.
It is necessary to focus on commonly used epidemic-related drugs, testing reagents, and related medical devices and equipment, and pay close attention to third-party platforms such as production, wholesale, retail, and online transaction services, in-depth investigation of case clues, and close cooperation with relevant departments to verify the work in the first place. Find clues to complaints and reports from the masses, and resolutely file and investigate crimes that constitute crimes.
The market supervision departments in Zhejiang, Guizhou, Anhui, Chongqing and other places have successively released many typical cases of illegal materials related to the epidemic, giving full play to the role of warning and education to maintain market order.
Yuan Cheng said that illegal acts of illegal profit-making in the epidemic-related material market should be promptly and strictly investigated to maintain normal market order and make every effort to ensure the medical treatment of the masses.
Further intensify supervision and law enforcement, and strictly control pharmacies and other windows where the masses buy medicines, which are the most convenient and quick, so that illegal activities have nowhere to hide.
In Liu Junhai's view, while strengthening supervision, production must also be expanded and circulation promoted. Local governments should promptly provide corresponding facilities for obtaining certificates and permits, so as to provide convenience for manufacturers to use electricity and water.
Including the import link, the price of imported epidemic-related materials can be reduced around the improvement of customs clearance efficiency and the reduction of tariffs.
At present, many epidemic-related materials are sold online, including e-commerce platforms, live broadcast rooms, social groups, etc. The relevant responsibilities of the platforms have also attracted attention.
On December 10, 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a work reminder on regulating the online transaction order of epidemic-related materials, requiring Internet platform companies to strictly follow the requirements of market supervision and management laws and regulations, and strictly implement the management responsibilities of operators on the platform and the guarantee of epidemic-related materials. The "eight responsibilities" including supply responsibility, price stability responsibility for epidemic-related materials, food safety and product quality responsibility, and government-enterprise collaborative governance responsibility ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
The platform is required to actively cooperate with the regulatory authorities to investigate and deal with relevant violations of laws and regulations in accordance with the law, so as to form a benign interaction between platform autonomy and government supervision.
Any problems found in violation of laws and regulations shall be reported to the local market supervision department at or above the county level in a timely manner.
"Online sales of epidemic-related materials, e-commerce platforms, short video platforms, etc. are the soil on which these businesses rely for their survival. Therefore, in order to prevent illegal sales, each platform should fulfill its due security obligations and review the statutory requirements of operators. Qualification, make full use of big data screening methods, and promptly review and discover illegal transactions. The platform needs to be responsible, stand up for consumers, put a good watch, and check it out.” Liu Junhai said that at the same time, consumers must be rational , Do not stockpile medicines blindly, which not only easily leads to waste of stockpiling, but also leads to resource constraints and aggravates the burden on others.
(Rule of Law Daily)