‘WATCHFUL EYES’ SPOT FAKE N95 MASKS
South Shore Health worker picks out counterfeits
An eagle-eyed hospital worker recently spotted fake N95 surgical masks in a shipment of 30,000 masks, a key detection that comes amid a boom in counterfeit production during the coronavirus pandemic.
The employee at South Shore Health, James “Barry” O’Shaughnessy, said he had a “gut” feeling that the masks were fake — an instinct that ended up protecting thousands of front-line workers from wearing masks that would put them at risk.
The Department of Homeland Security has seized the masks, and is investigating the incident.
O’Shaughnessy said he “just knew that something wasn’t right” when the masks’ boxes arrived. He noticed that the labels on the boxes were placed differently than other shipments. Also, the plastic bag inside the boxes had a “strange” seal.
“My gut told me something was off,” said
O’Shaughnessy, the manager of procurement, value analysis and contracting for South Shore Health in Weymouth.
“It was 30,000 masks that were counterfeit, so on one hand I felt horrible that we couldn’t get them in our front-line workers’ hands because we wanted them, but I was really happy to get them out of the supply chain,” he said.
O’Shaughnessy had recently placed an order for the N95 surgical masks from a New Jersey-based company.
An agreement was made that South Shore Health would not pay for the masks until they received and reviewed the supplies. To be extra cautious, O’Shaughnessy proactively asked a 3M representative to help inspect the thirdparty masks that were not from a 3M authorized distributor.
“While the masks looked exactly like a 3M N95, the packaging is what alerted me,” O’Shaughnessy said.
He sent 20 to 30 photos of the product to 3M.
“Lo and behold, a day later they got back to me and they said, ‘ These are counterfeit,’ ” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security then seized the masks, and the agency is investigating.
“Barry’s deep experience and keen attention to detail helped protect thousands of South Shore Health employees from wearing counterfeit masks that would put them at risk,” Allen Smith, president and CEO of South Shore Health, said in a statement. “We are grateful for his ‘watchful eyes’
and dedication to the safety of our colleagues.”
In February, Homeland Security Investigations said its federal agents had seized about 11 million counterfeit masks in recent weeks, the result of ongoing collaboration between the Department of Homeland Security and 3M.
“Together, with the help of Homeland Security and 3M, we can stop this from happening to another hospital,” O’Shaughnessy said. “The health and safety of our caregivers and staff should never be compromised.”