Health Canada warns against company selling unlicensed PPE online

Health Canada is warning that unauthorized personal protective equipment and medical devices are being sold online, and they may not provide the level of protection advertised.

Health Canada said in a release Tuesday that the company Maskopia, formerly known as Medkem Canada Inc., in Brampton, Ont., has been selling unlicensed supplies, including isolation gowns, cloth masks advertised as surgical masks, gloves and other PPE, through social media and on websites like Kijiji.

The agency is urging people to stop using supplies purchased from the company and dispose of them.

Health Canada says Maskopia does not hold a Medical Device Establishment Licence (MDEL), which is required to import or sell medical devices in Canada.

Health Canada says it also refused to authorize an application from the company to sell its gowns because they did not meet all of the agency's requirements for COVID-19 medical devices.

Maskopia continued to sell isolation gowns to various health care practitioners and consumers and also falsely advertised and sold non-medical masks as medical masks, Health Canada says.

The agency says it has seized many medical products from the company, including N95 masks, isolation gowns, face shields, cloth masks advertised as surgical masks, disposable surgical masks and latex and vinyl gloves.