The policies of used equipment auctioneer at Centurion Services Group are clear, the items sold are as is and where is, which means that you get what you get the way you get it, but is this safe? Are hospitals at risk of spreading infection inadvertently?
Centurion Services Group and Auction-mart are well known in the medical industry as one of the heavy hitters of selling used medical equipment. They sell 1000's of pieces of medical equipment each month on their website www.centurionservice.com to anybody who sets up an account with customer service representative Kylen Cieslak.
Ebay makes medical equipment sellers post a disclaimer, "The sale of this item may be subject to regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and state and local regulatory agencies. If so, do not bid on this item unless you are an authorized purchaser. If the item is subject to FDA regulation, I will verify your status as an authorized purchaser of this item before shipping of the item."
There are no disclaimers on Centurions Services or Auction Mart's website like on other auction sites like ebay: basically anyone can purchase equipment from Centurion Services.
But the problem is not the purchaser but the seller. How is the equipment handled at the auction house? Who is cleaning this equipment? Who is ultimately responsible for infections or contaminated equipment getting out to the rest of the world.
Erik Wilensky, who is the main auctioneer and Vice President at Centurion says, "We don't do anything to this equipment, we bring it in from the hospital and sell it...We don't plug it in, examine it or anything...This is an as-is auction."
"The problem with selling used equipment like that is cause for concern," say some industry experts, "There is no checks and balances...the hospital has to get rid of blood born pathogen infected items using a 'red bag' system, which is treated as medical waste, however, when it comes to equipment like ventilators for example, they can just be sold through auction to anyone."
The problem, some experts have said is that there are highly infectious strains of bacterial which are very aggressive, and that without proper policies in place many of these can go undetected. These strains can end up on equipment and at auction houses like Centurion Services Group inadvertently.
What maybe more disturbing is that this equipment is often times sold online with no one inspecting it at all, until it reaches the customer and by that time it may be too late; the bacteria or virus is already in another place; making containment a major issue.
When an authorized seller has equipment, it is usually tested and cleaned, generally refurbished. This ensures the equipment is properly cleaned and tested. Centurion Services could be sending deadly viruses, without knowing it, because they do not do anything to the equipment. Unless the hospital is doing the cleaning, then no one is.
The biggest issue is that Erik Wilensky and Erik Tivin owners of Centurion Services don't have a policy describing the potential hazards to buyers. Since anyone can buy, this means people not experienced in handling this equipment can be in danger.
Some of Wilensky and Tivin's customers are from other parts of the world, these countries are not being told that they are potentially importing viruses on unchecked equipment.
According to the policies at Centurion services and AuctionMart, they will sell to anyone, it doesn't matter if they are authorized are not, moreover, they only sell equipment as is where is and all of their items are straight out of facilities with no policies of their own outlining the proper disposal of used equipment.
Hospitals like Health South, St. Francis Healthcare System, Sault Ste Marie, and Silver Cross Hospital, who all let Centurion Services and Auction mart dispose of their equipment, could be selling medical equipment that is infected and no would know any different.
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