Brampton company defies Health Canada warnings and continued to sell unfit PPE
Published December 22, 2020 at 4:00 pm
Health Canada says a Brampton company has ignored regulations and has been selling personal protection equipment (PPE) that may not be safe to use.
The federal agency says that Maskopia, formerly known as Medkem Canada Inc., has been selling the PPE even though the company was refused a licensed to do so and after it was warned their products don’t meet Canadian health standards.
The health agency says people should stop using supplies purchased from the company and dispose of them.
Health Canada says Maskopia is selling the unlicensed supplies, including isolation gowns, cloth masks advertised as surgical masks, gloves and other PPE, through social media and on websites like Kijiji.
According to Health Canada, Maskopia does not hold a Medical Device Establishment Licence (MDEL), which is required to import or sell medical devices in Canada and that the application from the company was denied because they did not meet all of the agency’s requirements for COVID-19 medical devices.
Despite Health Canada’s direction to stop sale, the company has continued to sell its isolation gowns to various health care practitioners and consumers. Maskopia has also falsely advertised and sold non-medical masks as medical masks, according to Health Canada.
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Health Canada has seized the following products from the company:
• N95 masks
• K95 masks
• Isolation gowns
• Face shields
• CPR face shields
• Cloth masks advertised as surgical masks
• Disposable surgical masks
• Latex and vinyl gloves