Industrial giant 3M has been working 24 hours a day with law enforcement to stop the sale of millions of counterfeit versions of its N95 mask.
“We have taken very strong steps to tackle the problems of counterfeiting or price savings. And this has happened over the last year in this environment of restricted supply and very strong demand for critical products like the N95,” Mike said Vale, who leads the security of 3M and the industrial business group, told CNBC.
N95s have been the gold standard during the coronavirus pandemic for their ability to filter at least 95% of airborne particles. Masks, which are considered essential to protect Covid-19 front-line workers, have been in short supply. 3M is the largest manufacturer of N95.
Federal authorities announced Wednesday that scammers have distributed millions of fake N95s to health workers in at least five states. To date, 3,000 cases have reported 11,000 cases of counterfeit masks that resulted in 29 civil lawsuits. In total, the company said it confiscated 10 million N95 counterfeits. In mid-January, 3M helped its home state of Minnesota avoid buying nearly 500,000 counterfeit N95s from a Florida company. 3M sued and ended up winning a court order.
The news of the federal investigation into the counterfeit N95s comes when several Washington state hospitals discovered that the supply of masks contained counterfeits.
“It’s an awesome feeling … just to think that there are people who make counterfeit personal protective equipment that we need so badly right now during this pandemic,” Cassie Sauer, president of the Washington State Hospital Association, told NBC News. earlier this week.
3M helped Washington officials confirm that the fake masks were purchased from an unauthorized dealer, who had no relationship with the company. 3M warns that hospitals and medical clinics should check that they are purchasing respirators from an authorized and verified dealer. One way to do this is by consulting the company’s website or calling their anti-fraud phone line.
Despite concerted efforts to shut down fraudsters and hold them accountable, fake masks continue to appear in the United States and around the world. “Fake N95s pose a serious health risk and I think 3M has been appropriately aggressive when it comes to taking them off the street. Still, it’s a top game, getting rid of one. and another one appears, ”said Scott Davis, CEO of Melius Research, which has been following 3M’s evolution for several years.
In terms of production, 3M manufactures more than 95 million respirators a month at US plants in South Dakota and Nebraska. By scaling production and hiring hundreds of additional workers, including 300 at its South Dakota plant, the company has been able to quadruple production over the past year.
Still, several doctors who spoke to CNBC said they were still rationing the masks.
“Getting enough N95 to safely cover health workers has an unresolved challenge, especially for smaller hospitals and medical facilities. Having to negotiate counterfeit products makes it even more complete and impossible to ensure adequate protection for on our front line “. said Dr. Natasha Anushri Anandaraja, who founded Covid Courage, a non-profit organization in New York that helps health care workers gain access to PPE, including N95s and reusable masks.
Due to limited supply, Anandaraja said more medical workers are opting for reusable options. “Providing each healthcare worker with their own reusable mask will eliminate the constant struggle to find legitimate disposable masks and eliminate the need for healthcare workers to reuse disposable masks and save hundreds of thousands of dollars in health systems. per year “.