Illegitimate Oxygen Leaves Practices Feeling Blue
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- Published: Monday, 05 June 2023 07:46
- Written by Peter Ingle
- Hits: 1886
It may be planet earth’s most abundant element, but are we breathing the right sort? This is the question that practices will have been asking after this week’s concern that they might have “the wrong sort” of oxygen in their emergency gas cylinders.
A recent thread on GDPUK began when a contributor received an odd email purporting to come from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It said that they had identified a, “false batch of medicinal oxygen which has breached the legal supply chain.” Reassuringly it went on to say that the risk to public health had been assessed and was considered “LOW.” It then went on to say that “your dental practice” had been identified as one which might have this product, and that it would be labelled with a specific code, which was provided.
Unlike the usual MHRA notifications which tend to refer to medicines and equipment not seen in dentistry, this was about something that every practice must have. Despite this, in contrast to the usual MHRA notifications, it was not sent to all of their contacts. Which may be how a GDPUK reader found it, when by chance, they checked their spam folder. While their cylinder did have the given code, the lack of a general email about oxygen from MHRA raised the dentist’s suspicions that this might be a scam, and he posted on the forum.
The MHRA site did not seem to carry this information, which added to suspicions that the message was not genuine. Then another forum member posted that they had received a similar email and that it related to cylinders supplied by Tricodent, a company that a significant number of practices have used for in the long term.
Tricodent did not appear to be answering their phone. Searching the MHRA site for oxygen cylinders or Tricodent gave no results. The original email mentioned a Mark Ling at the MHRA. By now another post had suggested that Tricodent were not licenced which begged the question of what were the special properties of licensed oxygen?
A day after the topic began, a dentist received an email from the CQC on the same subject. Compliance guru Keith Hayes revealed that he too was not yet convinced, although he had received a communication from Mark Ling who said that he was a “Senior Criminal Enforcement Officer” at MHRA, and suggested he call him on his mobile. Later that day Keith was able to report that while he had heard no more from MHRA, Tricodent had been in touch. Apparently the labelling on the affected cylinders was out of date and a report had been made to MHRA.
GDPUK tried to speak with Mark Ling after being informed that he would be happy to provide some clarification, but as yet he has not returned our call. However a GDPUK contributor was able to contact Mr Ling, who is a former police Chief Inspector. It appears that there has been a similar case in Scotland, although it affected fewer practices. The issue appears to be that the supplier was not registered to supply medical oxygen. The actual cylinders came from a company that no longer trades, and are filled with non-medical oxygen such as would be used by divers. The cylinders that have been examined, do indeed contain oxygen. This has not however been through the same scrutiny and certification as official medial oxygen.
The BDA have issued a statement which refers to “falsified medical oxygen.” While the risk to public health has been assessed to be low, they urged practices to check their cylinders. They advised members to ensure that their supplier was authorised and registered by the MHRA. A criminal investigation into the supplier is ongoing.
While you have been reading this article you have most likely been breathing non-medical oxygen that has not been provided by an MHRA provider. GDPUK hopes that despite this, you feel well.
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