On a day when COVID-19 cases soared, healthcare supplies were scarce and an anguished doctor warned he was being sent to war without bullets, a cargo plane landed at the Los Angeles International Airport, supposedly loaded with the ammo doctors and nurses were begging for: some of the first N95 medical masks to reach the US in almost six weeks.
Already healthcare workers who lacked the crucial protection had caught COVID-19 after treating patients infected with the highly contagious new coronavirus.
That very day an emergency room doctor who earlier texted a friend that he felt unsafe without protective supplies or an N95 mask, died of the infection. It was the first such death reported in the US, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians.
But the shipment arriving that night in late March wasn't going to solve the problem.
An Associated Press investigation has found those masks were counterfeits as are millions of medical masks, gloves, gowns and other supplies being used in hospitals across the country, putting lives at risk.
Before the pandemic, federal trade law enforcement agencies were focused on busting knockoffs such as luxury goods and computer software, mostly from China.
As America fell sick, the mission shifted to medical supplies. To date, Operation Stolen Promise, spearheaded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, has netted 11 arrests and 519 seizures. And yet counterfeit goods continue to pour in not just masks, but also mislabelled medicines, and fake COVID-19 tests and cures, according to the agency.
The story of how one brand of counterfeits has infiltrated America's supply chains illustrates how the lack of coordination amid massive shortages has plunged the country's medical system into chaos.
AP identified the counterfeit masks when reviewing film of the Los Angeles shipment. The telltale sign: these masks had ear loops, while authentic ones have bands that stretch across the back of the head, making for a tighter fit.
The blue and yellow boxes being unloaded in a Southern California warehouse bore the name of the Chinese factory Shanghai Dasheng. The masks inside were stamped as if approved by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health signifying they had been certified by the US government as safe for workers in health care settings. N95 masks filter out 95% of all airborne particles, including ones too tiny to be blocked by looser fitting surgical masks.
But the day before they arrived, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a very specific warning: all Shanghai Dasheng N95 masks with ear loops were counterfeit.
Ear loop masks are less expensive to manufacture because the straps are attached with glue to the face covering, while headbands on genuine N95s, also called respirators, must be stitched, stapled or soldered to establish a tighter seal over the nose and mouth.
And even if the electrocharged fibers in the fabric are the same, masks with ear loops are not as effective because tiny airborne droplets carrying the virus can get sucked through the cracks.
AP tracked other shipments of Shanghai Dasheng ear loop N95 masks as they entered the vast US medical system. Shipping labels and invoices, certified letters and interviews with more than a dozen buyers, distributors or middlemen pointed to the corporate headquarters and busy factory of Shanghai Dasheng Health Products Manufacture Company.
The company did not respond to AP's queries about its masks. And AP could not independently verify if they are making their own counterfeits, or, as the CDC said in a published warning, someone is using Shanghai Dasheng's certification numbers without their permission."
The CDC separately told AP it has been in talks with Shanghai Dasheng about authenticity issues.
Recently, NIOSH has received reports stating there is product being obtained directly from the Shanghai Dasheng factory, labelled as NIOSH-approved, with ear loops, said agency spokeswoman Katie Shahan in an email to the AP. Shahan said Shanghai Dasheng's N95s with ear loops are counterfeit.
On their own website, Shanghai Dasheng warns: WE DON'T HAVE ANY DISTRIBUTORS, DEALERS OR BRANCH FACTORIES. BEWARE OF COUNTERFEIT!"
Florida-based importer Mark Kwoka said he believes the Shanghai Dasheng masks with ear loops that he obtained came from their factory, based on information he received from his partners in China.
This is kind of getting out of control, said Kwoka, who made a career in bridal gown design and manufacturing in China but turned to masks earlier this year.
On a recent spring day, hawkers outside the guarded gates of the factory were offering to take orders for US-approved, medical-grade N95s.
It wasn't clear whether the sellers were getting their products from inside. A security guard told a reporter that he believed the sellers were peddling counterfeits, but police at a nearby station weren't able to confirm that. The security guard ordered the journalists to leave.
Shanghai Dasheng is one of the largest manufacturers of authentic N95s in the world and one of only a handful in China certified to make NIOSH approved, US medical-grade N95s.
In normal times, Shanghai Dasheng was the gold standard for N95s, according to several brokers who work in China. But in the rush of this pandemic, several said cheaper masks are proliferating.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
