More than two years after the Food and Drug Administration solicited distillers to help solve a hand sanitizer shortage at the onset of the deadliest pandemic in a century, the federal agency continues to prove the maxim that “no good deed goes unpunished.”

While large pharmaceutical corporations were unable to pivot fast enough to meet the immense demand for hand sanitizer, the nimble, innovative nature of independent distillers allowed us to rise to the occasion. Many of us took a huge risk, oftentimes taking on debt to purchase the equipment and raw materials needed. Distillers exemplified the exceptional greatness of American small businesses by contributing the essential products needed to combat a public health emergency.