New Lawsuit Filed Over Philips CPAP Machine Injury
A new lawsuit has been filed against Philips concerning its defective CPAP breathing machine. The plaintiff, a California man who now suffers from a serious lung disease called pulmonary fibrosis, contends he used a Philips Dreamstation Auto CPAP regularly since July 2016 until the 2021 recall last summer. In his lawsuit, he claims that Koninklijke Philips and its North American subsidiaries sold defective CPAP machines that put users’ health at risk—including his own.
The recall, which spawned many lawsuits like this one, impacted several million CPAP and BiPAP machines, as well as ventilators made between 2009 and 2021. The FDA classified this recall as Class I, the most critical type of recall. The use of these devices may lead to serious injury or death.
The machines were recalled over their polyester-based polyurethane foam (PE-PUR), which is installed inside the machines to help quiet the vibrations when in use. Over time, this foam tends to break down and release tiny particles, as well as carcinogens (cancer-causing substances), into the machine. Lawsuits allege that as patients used these machines, they breathed in these deadly particles and gases, potentially causing a variety of health issues. These issues include but are not limited to:
- Acute Respiratory Distress System (ARDS)
- Chemical poisoning that resulted in hospitalization
- Hematopoietic Cancer
- Kidney Cancer
- Kidney/Renal Damage/Failure/AKI
- Leukemia
- Liver Cancer
- Liver Failure
- Lung Cancer
- Lung Disease
- Lymphatic Cancer
- Multiple Myeloma
- Nasal Cancer
- Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Pleural Effusion
- Reactive Airway Disease (RAD)
- Respiratory Failure
Many similar lawsuits against Philips have been consolidated into a multi-district litigation in the Western District of Pennsylvania. These cases are coordinated for discovery and pretrial proceedings. As more injuries and even deaths continue to be reported by the FDA, more CPAP lawsuits may be filed against Philips.
