(AP) -- The competitive scramble by states to buy personal protective equipment this spring stuck some businesses with big bills.
An Associated Press analysis of state purchasing data during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic found that states canceled billions of dollars in PPE orders.
Many of the cancellations occurred when businesses couldn't get the products to states under tight deadlines or when prices rose.
In some cases, suppliers already had paid to manufacture the goods before the deals got canceled. The most commonly canceled order was for N95 masks, which were particularly hard to get.
