Press release
March 11, 2022
Philips Respironics provides update for the US on ongoing CPAP, BiPAP and Mechanical Ventilator field action
Read more ›
Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Royal Philips’ (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) subsidiary, Philips Respironics, today provided an update on the remediation status in the US of the ongoing recall of certain sleep and respiratory care products in connection with identified potential health risks related to the polyester-based polyurethane (PE-PUR) sound abatement foam in these devices.
Customer and patient outreach
Following two rounds of comprehensive customer and patient outreach, Philips Respironics has reached the vast majority of the installed base in the US resulting in the registration of approximately 2.6 million devices in the country. Philips Respironics continues to monitor recall awareness for affected patients [1]. Philips Respironics is working cooperatively with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to further increase awareness for patients, consumers, and healthcare providers of the recall. Based on feedback from the FDA, Philips Respironics will be working with its DME customers to allow the company to directly contact those patients and other end-users that may not yet have received notice of the recall.
In addition, Philips Respironics continues to utilize its current mobile application, DreamMapper, to send notifications to patients and consumers utilizing the application with information regarding the field action. The DreamMapper notification function is used to direct patients/consumers back to the field action website, which includes detailed information on the field action and the process for registering, and maintaining such registration, for a replacement device.
Repair and replacement program
To date, Philips Respironics has shipped a total of more than 650,000 replacement devices to customers in the US, and aims to complete the repair and replacement program in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Test and research program
In December 2021, Philips provided an update on the VOC test results to-date for the first-generation DreamStation devices [2]. The results indicate that the VOC concentrations are within safe exposure limits specified in the applicable safety standard (ISO 18562). Comprehensive particulate testing and analyses for the first-generation DreamStation devices are expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022.
Initial testing results suggest that PE-PUR foam degradation in CPAP devices is accelerated by repeated exposure to ozone cleaning. The FDA and Philips have communicated and reiterated that ozone is not an approved cleaning agent. For example, as directed by FDA, Philips has prominently published information on the risk of using ozone cleaners on the landing page of the Philips Respironics field action website.
Philips is working cooperatively with the FDA and other competent authorities to update them on new test data as they become available. Philips is also working cooperatively with the FDA to develop a consolidated summary for healthcare providers on the available, finalized testing data, results, and conclusions, which will be updated as new test data becomes available.
Independent of Philips Respironics, in December 2021, an analysis was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine [2] that did not find a higher risk of incident cancer among obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients who used a Philips Respironics PAP device as compared to OSA patients who used a PAP device from other manufacturers, or OSA patients without treatment. The analysis and conclusion were based on data from a large multicenter cohort study involving 6,900 OSA patients on PAP devices between 2012 and 2020, including 1,200 Philips Respironics PAP users. Philips Respironics was not involved in the study or the analysis