Quote:In a motion filed Tuesday in federal court in Pittsburgh, Philips said that the plaintiffs — 112 individuals and 10 commercial entities seeking to represent classes of potentially millions of buyers nationwide — had no standing to sue because they did not claim that their devices had actually harmed them, and the company had offered to repair or replace the recalled devices for free.

The plaintiffs seeking economic damages said that they would not have paid for the devices if they knew of the danger, and that despite Philips' offer to repair or replace them, the recall had rendered them worthless.

Quote:The announcement left patients like Wright facing a false choice: Use a risky appliance or risk not waking up at all given their apnea disorder.  Wright waited a year and then received more bad news.  "Now [Philips Respironics] is saying, 'Sorry, it's too old. … You are only eligible for $50.'"

After NBC 5 Responds contacted Philips about Wright’s situation, she was able to get a new prescription and her replacement claim was expedited.  Wright now has a new CPAP device and she hopes what happened to her will be part of a new pattern for the company.  “They should take care of everybody's machines,” Wright said.

Quote:A product liability lawsuit alleges toxic sound abatement foam in a Philips DreamStation CPAP caused a Florida man to develop adenocarcinoma of the lungs, after particles and gasses were released directly into the sleep apnea machine’s air pathways.

(12-12-2022, 04:59 AM)A KLERK Wrote: Again, a large Dutch Newspaper published on the subject. Now in an interview with Chris Seeger, who states: "Evidence against Philips is overwhelming". 

(12-12-2022, 04:59 AM)A KLERK Wrote: [Chris Seeger, Lawyer for Philips Plantiffs]

How many victims are there?
"Around 15 million people worldwide have been affected, about six million of them in the US. Every one of them was cheated from the moment of purchase. The device was defective from day one. They didn't first enjoy it for five years and then it broke down, no. This is an obvious case. Philips used the wrong foam, which was sensitive to moisture and high temperatures. They should have used polyether foam."

You allege fraud. Why?
"Fraudulent is Philips' claim that the device is safe. But fraudulent also exists because the company withheld information from users about the unsafe nature of the foam. It is not difficult to convince a jury that consumers would have wanted to know this."

"People are still using these defective devices today, while at the same time we're dealing with a Class 1 recall. That is, there is immediate harm to patients using it. There is still no solution for these users. Patients and doctors face a diabolical dilemma. The choice they have when they go to their doctor is "do you want to die today or tomorrow? And most people will choose not to die today. People know they are putting a poison in their body. But if they sleep at night without a device, they may not wake up the next morning. People with severe apnea are sometimes a breath or a heartbeat away from death. They live with that terrible choice of continuing to use a device which may one day lead to cancer or serious breathing problems."

Philips said this summer that there is no link between apnea devices and cancer risk in patients. How do you view that?
For example, Philips used to agree with the FDA on the classification of the recall, the most severe category. Now their lawyers are going through the data with mathematicians and biostatisticians and will cast doubt. But why should anyone trust Philips when you look at the history of these products? The first complaints were in 2011. By 2015, the company knew that black particles from the devices could get into the airways."

What does the regulator do differently here?
"The FDA is on top of things. It seems like it's not giving Philips breathing room, like it was lied to and won't let that happen again. That's my reading if you look at the regulator's letters to Philips. I've never seen this happen. Never."

Philips says it has only known about the problems since the first quarter of 2021. How do you feel about that?
"That's just implausible. We don't believe that and neither does the FDA."  "Based on the facts. The simple fact that based on those emails in 2015 and 2016, Philips certainly knew and should have known that it was using the wrong foam. 

• A class action is pending on behalf of all device users (and their insurers) claiming economic damages because it alleges that the device did not have the value they expected when they purchased it.
  
• In addition, a class action has been filed on behalf of device users claiming reimbursement of costs associated with medical research.
  
• Finally, there are approximately 250 individual cases from individuals claiming to have suffered health damage.
  

(12-12-2022, 04:00 PM)A KLERK Wrote: I received the following email as staff member of the heavily involved Dutch ApneuVereniging (the "Dutch ApneaBoard"):