Philips CPAP Litigation

Plaintiffs reached a $1.1 billion personal injury and medical monitoring settlement with Philips in the Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-Level Pap, and Mechanical Ventilator Products Litigation. The agreement provides $1.075 billion to compensate patients who suffered injuries while using recalled Philips devices and also includes $25 million to cover the cost of medical monitoring for potential long-term health risks.

Judge Joy Flowers Conti granted final approval to the economic loss class action settlement negotiated by co-lead plaintiffs counsel. The uncapped settlement provides more than $500 million to plaintiffs who purchased defective Philips CPAP, Bi-PAP, and ventilator devices. About 3 million class members have registered for benefits, and 1.6 million have returned their devices for payment.

In a consent decree reached with Philips, the U.S. Department of Justice required the company to overhaul its American manufacturing and to stop distributing devices until it meets the terms of a consent decree with the government.

According to a recent filing out of more than 5 million class members who received direct notice, more than 99.9% of eligible claimants participated in the settlement. The settlement provides substantial monetary benefits to eligible claimants. Under the agreement, Philips will pay at least $501.5 million into a user and payer settlement fund and up to $15 million in device replacement awards to eligible users. Philips is providing two-year extended warranties on all devices provided to patients as part of the recall. The more than 1.5 million users who registered for the recall or returned their devices to Philips will receive automatic device payments and device return awards without having to apply.

Philips announced a consent decree with the FDA and the Department of Justice regarding its recall of millions of defective CPAPs, Bi-PAPs, and ventilators. As part of the settlement, Philips agreed to cease selling its respiratory care devices in the US until it fulfills the terms of the decree.

As of January 24, 2024, 679 personal injury cases have been filed in the IN RE: Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-Level PAP, and Mechanical Ventilator Products Liability Litigation.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) initiated an investigation into the FDA’s oversight of Medical Device recalls based on a letter sent by U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). This investigation follows the reporting from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and ProPublica on the 2021 recall of Philips breathing machines and evidence the company received reports about issues with the sound-reducing foam for years prior to the recall.

Today, lead plaintiffs’ counsel in the Philips multidistrict litigation announced the opening of the claims filing period, which runs from December 11, 2023, through August 9, 2024. The uncapped settlement, which is prefunded with $479 million, fully resolves economic loss claims stemming from Philips’ recall of 10.8 million CPAP, BiPAP, and mechanical ventilator devices sold in the United States from 2008-2021. To check eligibility and obtain instructions on the necessary steps to receive a payment, please visit the official settlement website: https://www.respironicscpap-elsettlement.com/.

Seeger Weiss founding partner Chris Seeger, who serves as co-lead counsel in the Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-PAP, and Mechanical Ventilator Litigation, announced an uncapped settlement worth a minimum of $479M to resolve economic loss claims of users and payers impacted by the recall. Seeger Weiss will continue to pursue personal injury and medical monitoring claims on behalf of its clients.

As of February 16, 2023, two class action complaints and more than 420 individual lawsuits alleging physical injury have been filed in In Re: Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-Level PAP, and Mechanical Ventilator Products Liability Litigation.

The New York Times reported the United States Department of Justice is negotiating a consent decree with Philips related to its conduct surrounding the recall.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs filed a class action complaint for medical monitoring and a master personal injury complaint. Plaintiffs are seeking to have Philips cover the cost of medical monitoring for patients who used the recalled devices. In addition, those with injuries allegedly caused by Philips’ recalled devices now have a set of common facts and claims for suing the company.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs filed a class action complaint for economic losses. The complaint alleges Philips knew of PE-PUR foam degradation issues with the recalled for years but continued to sell these devices and advertise them as safe while doing nothing to fix the problem. Plaintiffs allege the company failed to disclose the dangerous defect in its devices or remove them from the market until it initiated the recall in June 2021. The complaint seeks Plaintiffs to recover economic losses and punitive damages from Philips.

Email correspondence between Philips and a supplier about foam degradation was filed on the court docket. The documents show Philips knew about foam degradation issues with the recalled devices no later than 2015, but did not recall affected products until 2021.

The FDA issued a 518(b) notice, proposing a requirement for Philip to submit a plan for the repair, replacement, or refund of the purchase price of the recalled devices. In the notice, the FDA said there is sufficient evidence to determine “that the risk associated with the devices was not caused by the failure of a person other than Philips to exercise due care in the installation, maintenance, repair, or use of the devices at issue.”

The FDA issued a 518(a) notification order to Philips because of the company’s “failure to timely provide effective notice” of the recall. Philips was ordered to notify people of the “unreasonable risk of substantial harm to the public health” posed by the foam degradation within 45 days.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Joy Flowers Conti appointed Seeger Weiss LLP founder Chris Seeger to serve as co-lead counsel in the Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-Level PAP, and Mechanical Ventilator Products Liability Litigation. Seeger is one of four attorneys, selected from a pool of 75 applicants, to lead the litigation. He has led some of the most complex, groundbreaking, and high-profile litigations in U.S. history, including National Prescription Opioid Litigation, 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation, and National Football League Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation.

The FDA released an inspection report of Philips’ Murrysville, Pennsylvania manufacturing facility. The report concluded that Philips knew about the foam degradation issues since 2015, but failed to properly conduct a health hazard evaluation, a risk analysis, or a design review prior to the recall.

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) granted a motion to consolidate lawsuits against medical device manufacturer Philips over its CPAP, Bi-Level PAP and mechanical ventilator recall before Senior U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti in the Western District of Pennsylvania. Centralization will help streamline the process of discovery and key legal motions before trials.

Seeger Weiss filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Edward Haddix and other similarly situated assisted breathing machine users against Philips. The complaint alleged that Philips designed, manufactured, marketed, advertised, distributed, and sold dangerously defective apnea and breathing devices to consumers nationwide, despite knowing that the foam in these devices could disintegrate or outgas, resulting in serious injuries.

Philips issued a recall for its Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure (Bi-Level PAP), and mechanical ventilator devices over serious health risks caused by foam liners used in the design and manufacture of the recalled products. The company admitted that the foam may disintegrate or outgas, resulting in inhalation of toxic contaminants and chemicals, which may increase the chance of lung injury and may also increase the risk of cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Class I recall indicates the products have the potential to cause “serious adverse health consequences or death.”