The University of Washington Medicine and Washington State Hospital Association are suing a Texas company for allegedly selling $4 million in counterfeit N95 masks, The Seattle Times reported Feb. 4.
The complaint, filed Feb. 3, alleges Dallas-based CJFS Corp. sold the hospital association 600 cases of 1860-model N95 masks from 3M, one of the largest global producers of N95 masks, for $1.4 million and University of Washington Medicine about 4,700 cases of 1860-model and 1860S-model N95 masks for $2.6 million.
The Seattle Times reported University of Washington Medicine employees noticed incorrect expiration dates on some boxes when the masks arrived in December 2020, but CJFS replaced the affected masks.
3M issued a statement in January warning customers of counterfeit masks that had begun circulating. The producer listed lot codes that corresponded to specific fake mask models not made by 3M, which matched the ones received by the systems.
The systems reached out to 3M, which confirmed the supplies were counterfeit. They later received a counterfeit product alert from CJFS, the lawsuit said. CJFS has not sent a refund or genuine masks to the system, according to the lawsuit.