Washington hospitals find counterfeits in 3M mask supplies

SEATTLE — Dozens of Washington state hospitals learned N95 respirator masks believed to be purchased from 3M Company are counterfeits that were not manufactured by the company.

The Washington State Hospital Association on Friday alerted the state’s hospitals about a notification from 3M that some masks were knockoffs, The Seattle Times reported.

The association asked the state’s 115 hospitals to sort through mask supplies and pull potentially affected equipment from their supplies.

PeaceHealth, which operates Bellingham’s St. Joseph hospital, did not any masks believed to be knockoffs, hospital spokesperson Bev Mayhew told The Bellingham Herald in an email Monday, Feb. 8.

“We have checked the lot numbers of all N95 supply at St. Joes and other Northwest Washington facilities and we have none of the flawed masks as per the WSHA release,” Mayhew wrote. “All PeaceHealth facilities are going through the same process.”

Several hospitals sent masks to Minnesota-based 3M for testing and the company confirmed Saturday that some were counterfeit, the hospital association said.

Association officials said they were unsure how 3M discovered the fraud.

It was unclear where the masks originated or how many are fakes because hospitals around the state are still submitting samples for testing.

Hospital association President and CEO Cassie Sauer estimated Washington’s hospitals spent $5 million to $8 million on counterfeit masks.

The issue affects the supply of between hundreds of thousands and more than a million N95 masks, she said.

“We are having hospitals go through all their masks and look for what they can find,” Sauer said.

It is unclear whether the counterfeit masks are less safe than those manufactured by 3M, Sauer said.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some – especially older adults and people with existing health problems – it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

— Staff writer David Rasbach of The Bellingham Herald contributed to this story.

This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 12:41 PM.