A Dallas-based company is being sued for allegedly selling tens of thousands of counterfeit N95 masks to hospitals across Washington state.
Filed Friday by the Washington State Hospital Association and the University of Washington, the complaint alleges CJFS Corp. sold $4 million worth of fake masks at a time when hospitals were scrambling to secure personal protective equipment to protect staff against COVID-19.
The association and University of Washington, which operates a medical school, learned in fall 2020 that CJFS could sell 3M brand N95 masks, according to the complaint filed in King County Superior Court. That November, the university purchased nearly 5,000 cases of 3M brand N95 masks for $2.6 million, according to the complaint. The hospital association purchased 634 cases of the masks for $1.4 million.
Both the university and the hospital association received shipments of the masks. But staff at the university found that the manufacture date and expiration date printed on the packaging of some masks were the same, according to the complaint. CJFS agreed to replace the affected masks, and the university kept 85,000 without the error, the complaint states.
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In January, 2021, 3M, a large producer of the masks, issued a warning that counterfeit versions of its masks were circulating. The Washington State Hospital Association responded in February with a statement confirming some of the masks had made their way to its hospitals.
“These masks had the appropriate paperwork and passed physical inspection and testing,” said Cassie Sauer, the association’s president and CEO, said in the statement. “These N95s are precious resources we need to keep staff safe. It is reprehensible that counterfeiters are selling fake goods.”
Forks Community Hospital notified the association that the N95 masks from CJFS were counterfeit, according to the complaint. The university also confirmed it had counterfeit masks.
“It is undisputed that CJFS provided counterfeit N95 masks to (the Washington State Hospital Association) and (the University of Washington),” reads the complaint.
CJFS did not provide a refund or replacements requested by Washington State Hospital Association and the University of Washington, the complaint states.
Little information regarding CJFS Corp. is readily available online. Newsweek’s attempts to reach the company Friday evening were unsuccessful.
Taya Briley, vice president of the hospital association, told The Seattle Times that a total of 40 hospitals received the counterfeit masks.
“Making sure that our health care workers have a good supply of the right kind of PPE to do this work is really important and our national supply chain has struggled throughout the pandemic to provide adequate amounts of PPE,” Briley told the paper, which obtained the complaint. “The fact that the supply chain has been so unable to keep up with demand had created these opportunities for fraudulent mask makers to be present in the supply chain.”
As the pandemic has dragged on, public health authorities have recently turned their attention to improved masks to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its guidance on masks, noting that face coverings made of cloth provide the lowest level of protection. Surgical masks and N95s offer better protection, according to the agency. Yet spotting fraudulent N95 masks remains an ongoing issue.
The federal government is also giving out 400 million free N95 masks in an effort to end the pandemic.
Newsweek has reached out to the Washington State Hospital Association and the University of Washington for further comment.
