Pharmacy Owner Says He Wasn’t Price Gouging

The owner of a Bristol Township pharmacy that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said was price gouging N95 masks during the pandemic has explained his actions.

Digant Desai, who operates the Yorke Pharmacy in the 5500 block of New Falls Road in Bristol Township’s Levittown section, spoke with LevittownNow.com after the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office announced that the business entered into a Assurance of Voluntary Compliance agreement.

The agreement requires the pharmacy to pay $1,500 in civil penalties, $261 to a state public protection and education account, and $210 in restitution for consumers who purchased the N95 face masks during the early weeks of the pandemic.

Desai said he signed the agreement to settle the allegations from the attorney general’s office and avoid what he expected to be an expensive and lengthy legal fight.

However, Desai insisted that his prices on the individually sold N95 masks were fair considering the circumstances. He said his profit was about $2 for each mask that was sold for $20.

In February as the coronavirus spread around the globe, Yorke Pharmacy began receiving calls from customers wanting N95 masks. After calling suppliers and hearing of personal protective equipment shortages, the pharmacy learned prices were high but they ordered masks anyway to help customers looking to buy them, Desai said.

Showing off paperwork and relaying his decision making, Desai told a reporter that the N95 masks were very expensive at the time. He talked with shippers and manufacturers to find them and attempt to get a good price.

Desai said he searched the internet and called around for prices for N95 masks. He recalled finding similar prices and said he simply had to cover his costs, including paying staff and keeping the lights on at the small business.

“This was a product I never sold previous. I wanted to see what others were selling them for,” Desai said.

The CEO of the firm that made the masks sold them to the Bristol Township business for $13 a mask with shipping costs in addition, Desai said.

“The CEO said there was a high cost for manufacturing,” he explained.

As for why the masks were wrapped in plastic sandwich bags for resale, Desai said the manufacture authorized him to do that when they sent a multi-mask box of unwrapped merchandise to get the items on shelves quickly.

Desai explained that he made his case and showed documents that he wasn’t making a large profit but only covering costs on the mask. However, state officials offered him the compliance agreement and penalties instead.

Desai made the case that he has run Yorke Pharmacy for 29 years and is a local business with a good reputation, adding it was never his intention to rip anyone off and just wanted to provide N95 masks for his customers.

The attorney general’s office continues to stand by their compliance agreement with Yorke Pharmacy.

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