Hospitals across Washington state were warned on Friday to remove selected N95 masks from their shelves and send them for analysis after an investigation found fakes, the state hospital association said.
The fake masks look a lot like the N95 masks manufactured by a company called 3M. The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) and other hospital executives told reporters on a call on Monday that 3M masks are often in high demand because they come in smaller sizes and allow a comfortable fit around the face.
WSHA estimates that there are more than 2 million fake N95’s that were probably purchased by state hospitals, 300,000 of which were purchased by WSHA and distributed to dozens of hospitals. While many hospitals reported not wearing the masks, others did, and 60,000 of the WSHA masks are still in storage.
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“3M recently helped Washington State officials to confirm that N95 respirators purchased from distributors unrelated to 3M are not authentic 3M products,” the manufacturer wrote to Fox News by email. “3M recommends purchasing our products only from an authorized 3M distributor.”
Cassie Sauer, president and CEO of WSHA, said the scams have become quite adept at creating fradulent personal protective equipment (PPE), and some health professionals who have used fake N95s have not even noticed the difference.
“They look, feel, fit and breathe like a 3M mask,” said Sauer, displaying one of the imitations during a call. Sauer said it is not yet clear what level of protection the imitations offer, but was encouraged by the apparent lack of an increase in coronavirus infections in hospitals across the country where the imitations were in use.
“People keep asking us, ‘How protective are they?’ and we don’t know the answer to that, but we know it’s really good fakes, ”she said.
In a press release sent to Fox News, Sauer said that “these masks had the proper paperwork and passed physical inspection and testing.”
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Sauer explained that WSHA bought the masks from distributors and said that WSHA “absolutely believed they were 3M masks”. An information leaflet on the 3M website advises you to purchase “products only from an authorized 3M distributor or reseller” to avoid counterfeiting.
Sauer said officials worked to get copies out of state circulation over the weekend, and legal teams will meet soon to determine whether the money spent on the masks can be recovered, which is in the millions. She noted ongoing conversations with the Department of Homeland Security and the manufacturer, 3M.
“The level of anger at the weekend was incredibly high,” she said. “It’s reprehensible, depravity. We are horrified.”
On Monday afternoon, WSHA was unable to identify the third party culprit, but said Homeland Security is actively investigating the problem.
Other health officials echoed Sauer’s anger during the call on Monday.
“I will say to quote one of my colleagues, Cassie Sauer, ‘there is a special place in the afterlife for the people who would do this,'” June Altaras, a nurse and senior vice president of the MultiCare Health System, told reporters. “Having to reintroduce fear and anxiety to our doctors who are out there looking after their communities because someone chose to try to make money from this situation is really very frustrating.”
Altaras, speaking on behalf of a network covering 10 hospitals in Washington, said masks were removed from more than 500 different departments. “They were used extensively in our organization,” she said.
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Since then, the association has ordered 1 million masks directly from 3M, which has agreed to expedite the order due to fraud.
“We will do everything we can to ensure that this does not happen again, but I feel that … fraud is getting better and better, it is more difficult to detect and that is very worrying,” said Sauer.