Russian ventilator manufacturer fined following scrutiny over two hospital fires, same equipment was exported to US in April
The maker of Aventa-M lung ventilators, which were banned and recalled after two hospital fires, has been fined 500,000 rubles ($6,515). The same products were sent as part of a care package to the US, but never used there.
A court in Russia's Sverdlovsk Region imposed the penalty on the Ural Instrument Engineering Plant, owned by Concern Radio‑Electronic Technologies (KRET). The company denies that the ventilators are dangerous, and the fine itself is not directly related to the fires.
In early May 2020, Aventa-M devices came under scrutiny after being suspected of starting two deadly blazes in Moscow and St. Petersburg hospitals, in which seven patients died. The two fires occurred when the Covid-19 crisis was ramping up, and the supply of ventilators was running low. KRET rapidly began mass production of Aventa-M, sending them to hospitals around Russia. A few days after the fatal incidents, Russia's health watchdog Roszdravnadzor banned their use, before they were eventually recalled a month later.
Outside of Russia, Aventa-M ventilators also made headlines in the US after they were included in a "humanitarian aid" delivery in April. According to reports, the ventilators were distributed to hospitals in New York and New Jersey, but were ultimately never used due to a lack of compatibility with American infrastructure. Speaking to BuzzFeed News, a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) explained that the ventilators were thrown away. This was later independently confirmed by FEMA to Moscow-based news agency TASS, with the US government agency claiming they were thrown out as "hazardous waste."
Despite FEMA's insistence, KRET refuses to believe that the ventilators were thrown away, rejecting the idea that the US would discard such valuable apparatus.
"We believe in reason, and we don't think that American officials could do this with such expensive equipment, that is so in demand around the world amidst a pandemic," they explained.
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