Triad Group, maker of recalled Triad alcohol wipes that have been linked to a number of illnesses and deaths, is suing a vendor involved in the matter.
The two firms involved, Triad Group and H&P Industries Inc., the company that manufactures for Triad, have been accused of manufacturing and distributing alcohol products that were allegedly tainted with deadly bacteria and which led to serious reactions in already compromised patients. The dangerous bacteria linked to the products—Bacillus cereus and Elizabethkingia meningoseptica—can lead to rare and deadly infections.
Triad Group from Hartland, Wisconsin, is suing Vi-Jon Inc. for breach of contract. Apparently, said MSNBC, Triad alleges that Vi-Jon canceled about $500,000 in orders for products from its Germ-X line, including antibacterial wipes and that Vi-Jon would not pay Triad for about $145,000 for products that had been delivered, said MSNBC, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Wisconsin.
On February 22—over one month after Triad and H&P issued a massive recall for millions of alcohol pads—Vi-Jon canceled its order, said MSNBC. According to Triad’s lawsuit, the Vi-Jon products involved were not affected, saying that the firm was acting “based only on speculation of contamination…. There is no evidence of any such contamination affecting any such Germ-X products,” the lawsuit said, reported MSNBC.
Vi-Jon wants the lawsuit dismissed and claims the recalled products were enough like Germ-X products to cause concern following the recall and that their pull-out was appropriate, said MSNBC. “It was required in order to protect Vi-Jon’s product and reputation,” according to the firm’s response. Vi-Jon had long contracted with Triad.
Meanwhile, said MSNBC, Triad official’s just posted a $4 million penal bond, just one of some mandates under a consent decree that followed the firm’s shutdown this June, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman told MSNBC. Last month, we wrote that despite that the recall had been called six months prior, wipes were still on store shelves and believed to be in home medicine cabinets.
When the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) completed an inspection of the facility in March, multiple violations of cGMP requirements, including continuing problems with the air handling system, failure to adequately investigate drug products that did not meet specifications affecting the majority of the products manufactured at the facility, and failure to take the proper measures to ensure the quality of incoming components were revealed. The FDA previously asked H&P to stop manufacturing and distributing; it did not comply. H&P finally shut down operations shortly after the U.S. Marshalls descended on the plant.
Triad wipes have been sold under a variety of brands, including Walgreen’s, CVS, Cardinal Health, and Leader.
Triad and H&P issues have been linked to 9 deaths, 12 infections, and about 250 other “problems”. We’ve also reported that the firms have been the subject of raids; seizures; at least six lawsuits; complaints of serious illnesses; failed inspections; a number of massive recalls for tainted alcohol wipes, swabs and other medical products; and, worst of all, the illnesses and fatalities reported, to date.
