Kendall Healthcare Products Company, B-289381, February 19, 2002

B-289381 Feb 19, 2002 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights A firm protested a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contract award for piercing spike sets and feeding bags, contending that it was excluded from the competition because the procurement was misclassified in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD) and the agency failed to provide the protester with a copy of the solicitation. GAO found that VA (1) reasonably classified the contemplated contract action, mailed copies of the solicitation to 14 sources, and obtained competition and reasonable prices, and (2) did not violate applicable regulations governing advertisement and dissemination of the solicitation or deliberately attempt to exclude the protester from the competition. According, the protest was denied. View Decision Kendall Healthcare Products Company, B-289381, February 19, 2002 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Kendall Healthcare Products Company (Kendall) protests the award of a contract to Novartis Nutrition Corporation under request for proposals (RFP) No. 797-NC-01-0019, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Acquisition Center (VANAC) to acquire piercing spike sets and feeding bags with attached pump (feeding pump sets). Kendall, a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contractor with a schedule contract for feeding pump sets, alleges that it was excluded from the competition because the procurement was misclassified in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD) and the agency failed to provide the firm with a copy of the solicitation. We deny the protest. On June 12, 2001, the procurement was published in the CBD under classification code 89, "subsistence." The notice announced VANAC's intention to issue a solicitation on or about July 1 for nutritional items (dietary supplements, tube feedings, and specialty thickened products), and feeding pump sets. The notice advised that the RFP would be posted on the agency's Internet web site and would be available for downloading; interested firms without Internet capabilities could contact the agency by facsimile or e-mail transmission to obtain a paper copy of the solicitation. The RFP, issued on an unrestricted basis on July 10 and amended three times, provided for award of multiple requirements contracts for a base year, with four 1-year options. As amended, the RFP identified the procurement as a commercial item acquisition and listed 46 line items, of which 44 are for dietary supplements specifically formulated for the management of malnutrition and other medical conditions. These include ready-to-hang (RTH) products, which are premixed dietary supplements that are commercially available in 1-liter and 1.5-liter feeding bags. These RTH products are fed to patients by first piercing the feeding bag with a spike set which allows the product to flow through tubing; a pump attached to this tubing regulates the flow of the product to the patient. /1/ In addition, the RFP included two line items for feeding pump sets, which are used with RTH products. Line item 44 sought prices for a single feeding bag that can be used to provide feeding formulas, water for hydration, or both, to patients. Line item 45 calls for dual feeding bags for the same uses. Each award was to be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal was most advantageous to the government under the stated evaluation factors for one product group, multiple product groups, or all product groups. /2/ RFP at 73. Offerors were advised that individual delivery orders would be issued directly to the contractor by the ordering activity and through the agency's "subsistence prime vendor" identified in attachment B of the solicitation, or through the agency's pharmaceutical prime vendor identified in attachment A to the solicitation. /3/ RFP at 4-5. This protest involves the award of line items 44 and 45. The agency reports that its contracting and dietetic service personnel compiled a mailing list for this procurement that consisted of 14 prospective offerors known to provide dietary supplements and feeding pump sets. The list of prospective offerors included Kendall and Sherwood Medical, a firm the contracting officer subsequently learned had been acquired by Kendall. Contracting Officer's Statement at 2. The mailing address for Kendall, as it appears on the mailing list, is 15 Hampshire Street, Mansfield, Massachusetts 02048, to the attention of Trisha Goguen, which it is undisputed is the correct address and contact person for the company. The agency reports that it mailed the solicitation materials to the 14 firms on the mailing list, including Kendall. Amendment No. 1, issued on July 23, provided a new attachment B that advised prospective offerors of the new subsistence prime vendor; the contracting officer mailed this amendment to all 14 firms on the mailing list.