Washington State Hospitals Learn Their N95 Mask Supply Contains Fake

Washington state hospitals discovered their supply of N95 masks contained counterfeits after 3M, a company that makes the masks, said on Saturday that at least some of the vital stock of frontline workers at Covid- 19 were fakes.

The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) said 3M had informed them of the possibility of shock masks circulating in the national supply of personal protective equipment. The association then asked hospitals on Friday to remove the masks from their inventory.

The WSHA sent samples to 3M’s fraud department where the company confirmed some of the masks were counterfeit, according to a statement from the hospital association.

“It’s a stunning feeling … Just to think that there are people out there who will – by making counterfeit personal protective equipment that we so badly need right now during this pandemic,” said Cassie Sauer, President and CEO of the KING5 hospital association.

Although the group has yet to confirm the number of counterfeits, it has purchased 300,000 masks from a suspected third-party supplier of personal protective equipment, which works out to around $ 1.4 million. Of the hundreds of thousands of masks purchased, 60,000 have not been distributed.

Sauer said all of the masks had “appropriate papers” and had passed “physical inspection” and “tests.”

“These N95s are valuable resources that we need to keep staff safe. It is wrong for counterfeiters to sell counterfeit products, ”Sauer said.

3M has reported several lot numbers, located on the individual masks and the boxes in which they were shipped, potentially used by counterfeiters. According to WSHA, some of the lot numbers were among inventory purchased by Washington state hospitals and the hospital association.

The group said it was awaiting 3M’s investigation of the remaining lot numbers. So far, dozens of Washington state hospitals have been affected.

Although the counterfeit supplies have hit the state, 3M has shipped an order for one million masks to help fill the supplies, according to the hospital association.