Six Respirator Manufacturers Warn President Bush Of Imminent Shortage Of Masks Necessary For Avian Flu Pandemic Response

The leaders of six respirator
manufacturers representing approximately half the respirator production
capacity of the United States urged President Bush in a letter delivered
today to the White House to back federal legislation ensuring the supply
and availability of disposable respirator masks (N-95 respirators) for
healthcare workers and other first responders. The letter from the industry
echoes a letter sent to the Administration in May by a bipartisan group of
86 Members of Congress calling for the National Strategy for Pandemic Flu
Influenza to stockpile N-95 respirator masks instead of surgical masks.


"Unfettered liability costs will dramatically affect our nation's
ability to respond to an avian flu pandemic," wrote the respirator company
executives. "Costs of defending litigation, aside from settlements or
verdicts, amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, currently, 90
to 94 percent of profits are being consumed to maintain litigation efforts.


"Disposable respirators are inexpensive, so there is no practical way
to add unfair liability costs to the price of our products," the letter
continues. "Thus, we are compelled to withhold further investment in
production capacity, exit the marketplace or manufacture abroad for foreign
buyers where no litigation crisis exists. This is not in the public
interest. Respirator manufacturers are not, and have never been, part of
the problem underlying end-user illnesses, but we can be part of the
solution to minimize the spread of avian flu in the U.S. if a pandemic
occurs."


The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
tightly regulates the respirator industry by setting strict design
standards, conducting tests to ensure they are met, and approving each and
every respirator model as well as the warning labels that accompany the
product. However, relying on asbestos-style litigation tactics, trial
lawyers have deluged the industry with lawsuits claiming defective design
or failure to warn users -- despite the fact that manufacturers cannot
affect how or when the respirators are used.


"Without legislation, the ability for American manufacturers to address
emergency preparedness or have surge production capacity is and will be
severely constrained," wrote the company heads. "Already, one major
manufacturer has announced that it will no longer produce N-95 respirators
for the industrial market. Another is seriously considering withdrawing
from the market, and it has become difficult to convince shareholders to
invest in new capacity in the United States."


France has begun stockpiling 685 million N-95 respirator masks just for
first responders, while the U.S. Government to date has had one request for
proposals for 50 million masks. The recent experience with SARS showed that
countries will embargo exports of respirator masks in the case of a global
pandemic and the US will need its domestic sources for these masks.


The Coalition urged President Bush to support bi-partisan legislation
introduced by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) in the
Senate (S. 1406) and Representatives Bud Shuster (R-PA) and Tim Holden
(D-PA) in the House (H.R. 2357) that would preempt lawsuits claiming
defective design or insufficient warning if a respirator is NIOSH-approved.


The six manufacturers who sent the letter include members of the
Coalition for Breathing Safety: Aearo, Bacou-Dalloz, Inovel, Moldex, MSA
and North Safety. The Coalition for Breathing Safety was formed in 2004 to
ensure that millions of emergency responders, workers and citizens across
the globe continue to have access to respiratory safety products.
For additional information, please visit breathingsafety


Coalition for Breathing Safety

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