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WARNING LETTER

 

RE:     Adulterated and Misbranded Products Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

This is to advise you that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed your websites at the Internet addresses https://www.wi-ltd.com/ and https://www.wg-plc.com/ on February 25, 2021. The FDA has observed that your website offers products for measuring human body temperature, specifically the “WG 520” and “WG 620”, for sale in the United States. Based on our review, these products are intended to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose or cure COVID-19[1] in people, and thus are devices under section 201(h) of the Federal, Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the “Act”), 21 U.S.C. § 321(h).

FDA’s review of your website revealed the following statements that establish that the WG 520 and WG 620 are intended for the mitigation, prevention, treatment, diagnosis, or cure of COVID-19, including:

• The WG 520 and WG 620 can be found under the “Coronavirus” tab on the main webpage, which leads to a webpage titled, “Thermal Cameras, Coronavirus & Fever Detection Products” [Published on the firm’s webpage, https://www.wi-ltd.com/coronavirus/]
• The firm refers to the WG 520 and WG 620 as “WG 520 Fever, Coronavirus Covid-19, Flu, Ebola Screening System” and “WG 620 Fever, Coronavirus Covid-19, Flu, Ebola Detection Camera” respectively. [Published on the “Thermal Cameras, Mass Fever Detection - Coronavirus Covid-19, Ebola etc” webpage, https://www.wi-ltd.com/solution/fever-detection-systems/]
• “The system was designed by medical professionals to be used as a first level mass screening test for identifying individuals that have an above normal body temperature and may be suffering from Coronavirus, Ebola, Common Influenza, SARS and other flu variants such as Avian Flu, Bird and Swine flu.” [Published in WG 520 brochure, https://www.wi-ltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/WG-520-Fever-Coronavirus-Covid-19-Flu-Ebola-Screening-System-12.pdf]
• “The system was designed by thermal imaging professionals in Europe to be used as a first level mass screening test for identifying individuals that have an above normal body temperature and may be suffering from Coronavirus, Ebola, Common Influenza, SARS and other flu variants.” [Published in the WG 620 brochure, https://www.wi-ltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/WG-620-Fever-Detection-Camera-2.pdf]

The WG 520 and WG 620 are offered for sale in the United States without marketing approval, clearance, or authorization from FDA.  Accordingly, your products are adulterated under section 501(f)(1)(B) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 351(f)(1)(B), because your firm does not have approved applications for premarket approval (PMA) in effect pursuant to section 515(a) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360e(a), or approved applications for an investigational device exemption (IDE) under section 520(g) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360j(g). Your products are also misbranded under section 502(o) the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 352(o), because your firm did not notify the agency of its intent to introduce these products into interstate commerce for commercial distribution as required by section 510(k) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360(k). The introduction or delivery for introduction of these products into interstate commerce is prohibited under section 301(a) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 331(a).

There is currently a global outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus that has been named “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2” (SARS-CoV-2). The disease caused by the virus has been named “Coronavirus Disease 2019” (COVID-19). On January 31, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a declaration of a public health emergency related to COVID-19 and mobilized the Operating Divisions of HHS.^[[2]] In addition, on March 13, 2020, the President declared a national emergency in response to COVID-19.^[[3]] Therefore, FDA is taking urgent measures to protect consumers from certain products that, without approval, clearance, or authorization by FDA, claim to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19 in people. As described herein, you offer for sale products that are intended for use in the mitigation, prevention, treatment, diagnosis, or cure of COVID-19 in people. We request that you take immediate action to cease the sale of such adulterated and misbranded products for the mitigation, prevention, treatment, diagnosis, or cure of COVID-19. 

Use of telethermographic devices for the assessment of human body temperature can present potentially serious public health risks. Such risks may include, but are not limited to, the device incorrectly detecting a normal human body temperature when a person has an elevated temperature and incorrectly assessing a person to have an elevated body temperature when they do not. A person with an undetected elevated temperature who was subject to temperature assessment using a telethermographic device may, as a result, be less likely to adhere to infection prevention and control guidelines, such as social distancing and using personal protective equipment.  These risks are more likely to be present where telethermographic devices scan multiple individuals simultaneously. Your website, https://www.wi-ltd.com/, includes statements that indicate that the WG 520 and WG 620 are intended to scan multiple individuals simultaneously, including:

• “Moving Crowd Screening Capability” [Published in WG 520 brochure, https://www.wi-ltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/WG-520-Fever-Coronavirus-Covid-19-Flu-Ebola-Screening-System-12.pdf]
• “Detects up to 5 People at the Same Time”, “The WG 620 Fever Detection Camera enables accurate and fast fever screening of multiple individuals at once”, and “No operator is required for operation and the device can measure up to 5 people at the same time within a range of 2 metres.” [These three statements published in the WG 620 brochure, https://www.wi-ltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/WG-620-Fever-Detection-Camera-2.pdf]

For more information about FDA’s regulation of devices used to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19; frequently asked questions; and other helpful resources, visit our website at https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/emergency-situations-medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices. In addition, the guidance titled “Enforcement Policy for Telethermographic Systems During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency”^[[4]^] provides information about FDA’s policies intended to help expand the availability of telethermographic systems used for body temperature measurements for triage use during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

You should take action to address the violations cited in this letter. This letter is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of violations that exist in connection with your products or operations. It is your responsibility to ensure that the products you sell are in compliance with the Act and its implementing regulations. We advise you to review your websites, product labels, and other labeling and promotional materials to ensure that you are not misleadingly representing your products as safe and/or effective for a COVID-19-related use for which they have not been approved, cleared, or authorized by FDA and that you do not make claims that misbrand the products in violation of the Act. Within 48 hours, please send an email to [email protected] describing the specific steps you have taken to address these violations, using CMS # 613566 as reference. Include an explanation of each step being taken to prevent the recurrence of any violations, as well as copies of related documentation. Failure to adequately prevent address any violations may result in legal action, including, without limitation, seizure and injunction.

FDA is advising consumers not to purchase or use certain products that have not been approved, cleared, or authorized by FDA and are being misleadingly represented as safe and/or effective for the mitigation, prevention, treatment, diagnosis, or cure of COVID-19. Your firm will be added to a published list on FDA's website of firms and websites that have received warning letters from FDA concerning the sale or distribution of COVID-19 related products in violation of the Act. This list can be found at https://www.fda.gov/consumers/health-fraud-scams/fraudulent-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-products. Once you have taken actions to address the sale of unapproved, uncleared, and unauthorized products for the mitigation, prevention, treatment, diagnosis, or cure of COVID-19, and such actions have been confirmed by the FDA, the published list will be updated to indicate that your firm has taken appropriate corrective action.

This letter notifies you of our concerns and provides you with an opportunity to address them. If you cannot take action to address this matter completely within 48 hours, state the reason for the delay and the time within which you will do so. If you believe that your product is not in violation of the Act, include your reasoning and any supporting information for our consideration.

If you are not located in the United States, please note that products that appear to be adulterated or misbranded are subject to detention and refusal of admission if they are offered for importation into the United States. We may advise the appropriate regulatory officials in the country from which you operate that FDA considers your products listed above to be adulterated and misbranded products that cannot be legally sold to consumers in the United States. 

Please direct any inquiries to FDA at [email protected]. 

 

Sincerely,

/S/

Courtney H. Lias, Ph.D.
Acting Office Director
OHT3: Office of GastroRenal, ObGyn,
General Hospital and Urology Devices
Office of Product Evaluation and Quality
Center for Devices and Radiological Health