It is doubtful that about a year ago more than 1 out of every 100 of us had even heard of an N95 mask, presumably the gold standard in facial coverings intended to block the COVID-19 viral particle.
The major player in the N95 world is 3M, the well-known company based in Maplewood, Minnesota. According to the company, the N95 mask is designed:
“to help provide respiratory protection for the wearer… as a surgical mask, it is designed to be fluid resistant to splash and spatter of blood and other infectious materials.”
Obviously, in the world of fraud, anytime an opportunity exists for a scam operation to make money off of the misery of others, they will gladly do so. According to Homeland Security Department’s principal investigative arm, fake 3M masks claiming to be N95 devices “were sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies.”
The counterfeit masks flooding the country are putting healthcare workers at risk to catch the disease. The inauthentic N95 masks are part of an entire industry of fraud that includes fake vaccines, fake medicine and fake websites purporting to cure or treat the disease.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the production of the N95 mask in 2020 alone was a huge business. 3M, the leading producer, turned out more than 2 billion last year.
At the beginning of the pandemic the masks were in short supply, and it led to a rise in fake masks. While the 3M company is committed to helping people spot fakes, so many have flooded the country it is difficult to keep up with the scams.
Homeland Security, the Food and Drug Administration and the FBI have reportedly conducted more than 1,250 raids to seize 10 million counterfeit 3M masks. Meanwhile more fraudulent N95 masks have popped up in hospital systems across America.
In the realm of fraud, the need to recognize a scam when it is taking place often falls on the shoulders of those who are about to be scammed, but what of a medical product that looks the same to the naked eye, and is identically (or nearly identically) packaged?
My question from an ethical point of view, is if the legitimate manufacturers themselves are doing enough to keep fraud at bay? While 3M, for example, has a tutorial to help purchasing agents and general customers identify counterfeit products, is that enough? Are they content with playing a blame game about customers failing to use approved distributors and then washing their hands of the entire matter?
What then of N95 masks not manufactured by 3M? Are they following rigorous protocol to ensure their customers are protected? Apparently not.
The descriptor “N95” has become welcomed into the lexicon of everyday pandemic knowledge. Consumers, even in supermarkets and drug stores, have access to what they perceive is the N95 mask. They take the descriptor at face value but who reaches them to tell them that their masks might be real or fake? Virtually all of the masks are manufactured overseas. How does any consumer differentiate between an “honest” factory and a scam? Answer: they can’t.
Let the Seller Beware?
The companies who are legitimate producers of the N95 masks have churned out billions of units and have made hundreds of millions in profit. I am not denying them their sales or successes but given the pandemic and the need to control the disease, can they not develop more sophisticated tracking technology? Are there no better systems of product identification and certainly more information on who the legitimate distributors are, and if the masks customers have purchased are legitimate products?
Clearly, there are technologies, tracing mechanisms, encrypted codes and ever-changing design elements that might make it more difficult (and costly) for counterfeiters to keep up with legitimate manufacturers.
In these unusual times, it will take unusual measures to combat fraud. My question, from an ethical point of view is if the manufacturers of N95 masks are taking a much more easy path in deciding to disavow responsibility than they should be taking?
