During Pandemic, China Sent Millions of Counterfeit Masks, Test Kits to US: Customs Data
China accounted for about 51 percent of counterfeit or substandard
COVID-19-related products seized by U.S. customs officials from October 2019 to Sept. 30 last year, according to a newly-released
report from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (
CBP).
Among the products seized by U.S. customs officials were over 12.7 million counterfeit
masks, 177,356 COVID-19 test kits prohibited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and 38,098 FDA-prohibited chloroquine tablets.
The effectiveness of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and its closely-related chloroquine in treating symptoms of COVID-19, which is caused by the
CCP virus (commonly known as the
novel coronavirus), is of much debate.
The FDA initially
issued an emergency use authorization for the two drugs, but later
revoked the authorization in June last year, saying that they were “unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19.”
However, there have been studies showing their effectiveness: one
study showed hydroxychloroquine lowered the death rate of COVID-19 patients, while another
study demonstrated a drug cocktail containing hydroxychloroquine could lower the hospitalization and death rate of patients infected by the virus.
The FDA currently has a
database listing fraudulent COVID-19 products, including test kits. The list contains company names and the names of their products.
In December last year, customs officials in Cincinnati seized 10,080 counterfeit surgical masks, which were labeled “3M Mask Model 1860,” in a shipment originating from China,
according to a press release. The boxes containing the masks were fraudulently labeled as “Made in the USA.”
If genuine, these fake 3M masks would have an estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $65,520.
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