The supply of hundreds of thousands of N95 masks at dozens of Washington hospitals are impacted by counterfeit masks in circulation, according to the WSHA.
SEATTLE – The Washington State Hospital Association says hundreds of thousands of N95 masks bought by local hospitals and the association are counterfeit. The WSHA says 3M, a manufacturer of the N95 mask, notified them on Friday of possible counterfeit masks in circulation. The association sent off a sample of masks to 3M’s Fraud Department and were notified Saturday night that several lots bought by WSHA were not manufactured by 3M.
HIPAA
Shannon B. Hartsfield
To date, there has been little consistency in how Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements are enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or the amount of settlements or penalties. In
Univ. of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Ctr. v. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Servs. No. 19-60226, 2021 WL 127819 (5th Cir. Jan. 14, 2021), the court vacated significant penalties against M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (M.D. Anderson) in a manner that could lead to changes to HIPAA enforcement in the future. The court found that HHS decision to fine M.D. Anderson $4,348,000 was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.
Vaccine supply may be cut to Washington outlets that provide VIP access By Evan Bush and Sydney Brownstone, The Seattle Times
Published: February 2, 2021, 7:39am
Share: A vial with the COVID-19 vaccine is pictured at PeaceHealth Urgent Care Memorial on Tuesday morning, December 22, 2020. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)
The Washington State Department of Health on Monday told hospitals, clinics and other providers not to provide special access to coronavirus vaccines and warned they may risk supply reductions if caught.
“VIP scheduling, reserving doses for inequitable or exclusive access, and similar practices are banned and will not be tolerated,” said a DOH email to all enrolled vaccine providers. “If we find out a provider is giving out vaccine inequitably or is doing behaviors listed above or similar, we may reduce or stop allocations to that provider.”
The COVID-19 vaccine has been described as “liquid gold”, so why is so much of it ending up in the trash? It’s not exactly clear how many doses are going.