Shertech Pharmacy Piedmont, LLC (36C24620Q0897)

B-419069 Oct 29, 2020 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Shertech Pharmacy, of Kernersville, North Carolina, protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 36C24620Q0897, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the provision of radiopharmaceutical products to the VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Shertech argues that the RFQ's requirement that the successful contractor be located within a 50-mile radius of the VA's facility is unduly restrictive of competition. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Shertech Pharmacy File:  B-419069 Date:  October 29, 2020 Karen S. Sheriff, for the protester. Tyler W. Brown, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Scott H. Riback, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging solicitation’s requirement that contractor have a facility within a 50-mile radius of the agency’s facility is denied where agency demonstrates that its requirement is reasonably necessary to meet its needs. DECISION   Shertech Pharmacy, of Kernersville, North Carolina, protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 36C24620Q0897, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the provision of radiopharmaceutical products to the VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.  Shertech argues that the RFQ’s requirement that the successful contractor be located within a 50-mile radius of the VA’s facility is unduly restrictive of competition.[1] We deny the protest. The RFQ calls for the provision of radiopharmaceutical products, which are nuclear medicine products used principally in certain diagnostic procedures.  The RFQ specifies that certain products be delivered on a routine basis, while requiring the delivery of other products on an as-needed basis.  Shertech’s protest concerns the delivery of the as-needed products.  The RFQ requires these products to be delivered within 1-2 hours of when an order is placed and, because of this requirement, also stipulates that the contractor be located within a 50-mile radius of the VA’s Durham facility in order to ensure timely deliveries.  RFQ at 5-6.  Shertech maintains that the 50-mile radius requirement is unduly restrictive of competition because, according to the protester, even though it is located outside of this radius, it nonetheless can make timely deliveries within the 1-2 hour period of time specified in the solicitation.  Shertech therefore alleges that the 50-mile radius requirement is arbitrary and unnecessary to meet the agency’s requirements.[2] We find no merit to Shertech’s protest.  Where a protester challenges a specification or requirement as unduly restrictive, the procuring agency has the responsibility of establishing that the specification or requirement is reasonably necessary to meet the agency’s needs.  OMNIPLEX World Services Corporation, B-415988.2, Dec. 12, 2018, 2018 CPD ¶ 424 at 3.  We examine the adequacy of the agency’s justification to ensure it is rational and can withstand logical scrutiny.  Id.  Where matters of human life and safety are involved, our Office affords considerable deference to the judgments of the agency’s technical experts.  Id. The agency explains that its overarching consideration is the fact that the radiopharmaceuticals have a limited lifespan due to radioactive decay that begins once the medications are activated.  The agency explains that three considerations led it to establish the 50-mile radius requirement:  the amount of time it takes to prepare, or activate, the required radiopharmaceutical; the drive time from the contractor’s pharmacy to the Durham VA medical center; and the time it takes to process the radiopharmaceuticals before administering them to the patient. As to the time for preparation or activation of the radiopharmaceuticals, the agency explains that the average time is 20 minutes, but that some medications take longer to prepare.  Contracting Officer’s Statement of Facts (COSF) at 1-2.  Once the medication is prepared, it must then be measured, labeled, inventoried and shipped.  Id. As to the travel time, the agency explains that it varies depending on the time of day, and traffic can be considerable in the Durham, North Carolina, area.  COSF at 2.  As to processing the medication once it has arrived at the Durham VA medical center, the agency explains that, while most doses can be administered within 10 minutes of receipt of the medication, the agency nonetheless has Department of Transportation imposed processing protocols that must be followed in order to ensure that there has been no radiation spilled to the packaging in which the medication has been shipped before the medication can be uploaded to the facility’s system.  COSF at 2.  In other instances, certain of the medications administered have a particularly short viable lifespan once they ha...