Razer sold bogus “N95” mask for $100 in 2021—users finally get refunds

$1 million total sent to 6,764 consumers due to Razer settlement with FTC.

See full article...

 

[Defenestrar]

Thanks FTC for taking care of the consumers initial outlay (but not the consequences of believing the claims). Now would the FDA please step in and show what happens to companies who make false claims about medical devices? Punitive should be the operative word.

 

[Defenestrar]

I have no love for Razer, but we're talking about people who potentially contracted a disease because Razer claimed their product would actually prevent it. This isn't "oh, people bought a crappy keyboard and are seeking restitution", this is "Razer claimed their mask was N95-cert, it clearly was not, but they continued to lie about it, and people potentially got sick as a result".

There are over 1.2 million confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the US alone. There's a non-zero chance that people relying on a Zephyr mask did more than just "got sick."

 

[Defenestrar]

There are respirators that do things like this, but they generally cost thousands of dollars per unit and are intended for longer term use. Most of them also function as a face shield. This is part of why the $100 price point was sus.

Your pricing is way off. A very comfortable N-95 certified half-mask with replaceable filters is going to run $50 to $60 (e.g. Envo mask - which I've worn for 8+ hour shifts and highly recommend). A full-face respirator with impact resistant shield and the ability to accept all sorts of filter cartridges is still going to be less than $150 (I use the 3M 6800). Both have NIOSH certification. The NIOSH standard is not hard - but it does require testing with validation, and part of that test is the fit of the device.

You don't hit several hundred (let alone thousands) of dollars until you start getting into powered air purifying respirators or full self contained breathing apparatuses.

 

[Defenestrar]

They should have just put a K in front of N95 like every other company. The lawsuit is because Razer will actually pay up, and the billions made by Chinese companies selling KN95 masks that are entirely untested to nearly every single person in the US will go unpunished... Because actual N95 masks were pretty much sold out indefinitely during the shutdowns.

Pardon me, but I believe that either your ignorance or bigotry is showing. You might want to fix that.

The NIOSH N-95 standard is very similar to the Chinese KN-95 standard, but they differ slightly in the fit testing/requirements. OSHA/NIOSH certifications are granted by a national test lab and the laws require individual fit testing for employees who are required to use the masks because NIOSH doesn't perform leak testing. KN-95 masks follow a European style fit testing (e.g. similar to FFP# respirators) which does have an inward leakage test as part of the standard.

Is there room for discussion regarding whether fit testing at the manufacturing level versus individual level? Sure, the US and EU have been at odds for decades on that point. Is there room to talk about profiteering or an explosion of counterfeiting during a massive spike in global demand? Of course - but say that instead of making racial insinuations about quality. Are there important questions to ask about why China was able to ramp up production of their certified masks at a massive rate when the US was caught flat-footed? You bet!

Stating that KN-95 are masks not subject to testing is incredibly wrong. I can't even begin to count how many infographics were plastered everywhere about mask types, materials, test standards, certifications, etc… it was practically impossible to not learn about the differences. Stating something as incorrect as you did this soon after a global pandemic seems to indicate willful ignorance, racism, or some mixture of both. I'd suggest you check your sources, assumptions, and biases and see if there's an opportunity here to better yourself.

 

[Defenestrar]

The article isn't clear (or I missed it), but is this the same Razer that makes keyboards, mice, and so forth? Or is it a different company with the same name? I don't see any pointless hue-cycling LEDs on the mask.

Yes - per the link with the original Ars review article. Jon Brodkin was just polite enough to not subject us again to this product image from Razer:

 

[Defenestrar]

Instead, whether or not the masks fit is pushed out to OSHA, which requires that all mandatory work place use requires workers to be pass a fit test on the model of respirator they will be using. This system works ok within the context of industry and companies with the infrastructural to do fit testing, but it leaves the general public, as well as independent contractors literally in the dust, because they don't have good access to fit testing, and even if they do get fit testing, they have to guess at which models of mask may have a chance at fitting well.

Part of the logic here is that the general public should not ever be in a situation where respirators are required (voluntary use is an entirely different beast). Furthermore, without proper use (i.e. trained), respirators won't protect from harm - but they can provide a false sense of security. Additionally, respirators are not zero-risk personal protective equipment, and the US feels that a consultation with a medical professional is necessary to make an informed choice between the risk-benefit. That's why OSHA requires not only training and fit-testing, but a medical evaluation as part of a respirator protection plan. Technically there's all sorts of respirators that aren't supposed to be sold to the general public here in the US - but that's almost never enforced.