NOTICE: Philips Respironics Recall Replacement Tally

[RayBee]

Progress Report through September 2022

[Grover]

My mail order DME phoned last week that I should expect a new cpap this week. In the discussion, I was offered a choice of either a DS1 or a complete DS2 unit. I chose the DS1. It arrived today via Canada Post.
The DS1 looks like it may be a new machine instead of a refurbished one. Is there any way I could tell the difference?

Registered my machine with Phillips in June '21 and a couple of weeks later phoned the DME and gave them the same information.
Has anyone been threatened for payment for not returning the recalled units? Return shipping label included with a note to return for disposal. It was less than one year old and would make a good backup unit.

The Amazon air intake doesn't work for me as without the noise foam, the Oscar software notes a major increase in snore episodes and ramps up the pressure to max for most of the night. With the foam intake on the DS1 or with my M, there are very few snore episodes.

[SuperSleeper]

Has anyone been threatened for payment for not returning the recalled units?

If they send a note demanding the return of my old machine, or demanding a payment, I'm going to tell them the following:

Dear Philips,

Thank you for contacting me.  I'm currently working on all my return shipment requests in the order they are received.  I hope to have your return shipment done by the end of 2023, although circumstances may dictate a longer delay.  In order to speed the process your request, please send the following information to me no later than Nov 1, 2022:

1.  Your full corporate name & address.
2.  The legal document that requires me to return the referenced machine.
3.  The home addresses, phone numbers and social security numbers of of all your corporate officers.

Failure to provide the above referenced documentation in a timely manner may result in the delay of the return of the referenced machine.

Thank you for serving your customers.

Sincerely,

SuperSleeper

[WakeUpTime]

Has anyone been threatened for payment for not returning the recalled units? 

Although my response to any future request from Philips (to return my previous faulty device) would likely follow the quote in SuperSleeper's above post, we have legal protection from having to return potential evidence.

Philips CPAP Preservation Order Issued For Recalled Sleep Apnea Machines

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal Philips CPAP lawsuits has approved an interim plan jointly proposed by the parties, which outlines how certain evidence from the recalled sleep apnea machines should be preserved for future use in the litigation.

In an order issued on January 11, 2022 Judge Conti approved an interim Philips CPAP preservation plan, outlining certain steps that must be taken during recall repairs or for machines not returned to the manufacturer.

[Master Docket: Misc. No. 21-1230 / MDL No. 3014]
Case 2:21-mc-01230-JFC / Document 332

Philips also placed similar text on its Recalled site (by order), but it's buried in a final sentence within one Recall Q&A response.  If you should ever receive subsequent requests from Philips (or any third party) instructing you to return your defective device or face penalties, simply place your name and device serial number on the Philips Recalled Device Evidence Registry and you're covered.  There are no implications for merely placing your device serial number in that registry.  

Then, reply to Philips with the above legal reference.  That will put an end to any of their future requests.  An administrator within a Philips department, within a Philips subsidiary, would likely not wish to act in any way that might influence any outcomes of the parent company's involvement in a potential $1B class-action lawsuit. They also wouldn't wish to receive an interoffice e-mail from their internal legal department telling them to stop their followup.  If you should sense that the letter is from a Philips-appointed third party involved in the recall, send the very short e-mail response (or letter) to Philips (Attention: Legal Department).  It will produce a similar response.  Be sure to tell them to respond within 15 days (or so) that they have received your letter.  

However, like everyone else, you're unlikely going to receive any additional request from Philips.  The last thing Philips needs right now is to upset a Judge's order at the beginning of a very significant lawsuit(s).

[RayBee]

Progress Report through October 2022

[RayBee]

Progress Report through November 2022

[SuperSleeper]

Thanks Ray.  Who would have thought that this stuff would have dragged on for so many months?

Glad you're tallying these results.  Gives us a good view as to how things are going with the recall.

[RayBee]

You're quite welcome. And I agree. It's amazing how long this has dragged on.

I voted early on, on behalf of a friend who was having severe health problems due to ongoing use of her DS1 and So Clean machine. She did get a DS2 after being told she would still have to wait another nine months until she was eligible to get a new machine, due to the life cycle of her original DS1 product. In spite of the fact that it was literally killing her. And they knew it. She had/has no ambition to keep track of her health issues due to the DS1 usage, no desire to be her own advocate to improve her own therapy, and couldn't even tell you what brand her machine was until I asked and subsequently let the genie out of the bottle. She was left completely in the dark until told her.

Also, interestingly, I personally know 20 to 25 friends who are using CPAP/Bi-PAP machines. Some are techno-geek wizards and others are quite the opposite. Out of this small collective, I am the only one who is interested in diving in personally to better my therapy and health. All the rest are just like happy pigs in the mud and don't have any interest in the world of knowing more than what their DME told them. And most, if not all, are probably still using the initial base parameters their DME's rubber-stamped into their machines. Apathy is surprisingly high.

That said, I'm thinking that this tally is an extremely tiny subset of individuals who are affected. I think we already knew that though. Maybe to the point of being so tiny that the data is nearly meaningless. However, it is interesting to see all this play out, and very sad too.

I think moving forward, I will compress the historical data into quarterly chunks and only report the most recent quarter monthly. The graph is kind of getting pretty long and skinny.

I actually wonder just how long this will take to play out on the global scale with all the turmoil that's running amuck these days.

Maybe we should bump this thread once in a while as new folks are joining the forum every day.

[SuperSleeper]

Sounds like a plan, Ray.  

[Krusher]

Registered on September 26, 2021.

Picked up new machine from my DME (free of charge from Philips) December 2, 2022.

New Dreamstation 2 Auto CPAP Advanced.