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Philips Settles Lawsuit with Another Payout
Philips settles Lawsuit with another payout. With a $1.1 billion settlement reached, the DreamStation nightmare may finally be over for Philips Respironics. As reported by the New York Times and elsewhere, the settlement concerns legal claims that people who used the company’s CPAP and other devices were harmed by noxious gasses, and flecks of foam that lodged in their airways, sometimes for years.
“Thousands of people contended in lawsuits that they had been injured by popular Philips DreamStation machines,” wrote NY Times reporter Christina Jewett in an April 29 article. “The settlement affects CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, machines that people with sleep apnea or other respiratory difficulties use at night to improve their breathing, as well as other types of machines used at home and in hospitals. Philips did not admit any fault in the settlement, including whether the devices caused the injuries, according to a financial report issued Monday.”
The $1.1 billion settlement is in addition to last year’s personal injury tally of half a billion reached in the summer of 2023. Philips also agreed to a consent decree in early 2024 that forced the company to stop U.S. sales of new devices until specific conditions were met.
“Monday’s agreement largely settles years of litigation over a problem that was deeply upsetting to patients and doctors, who had to weigh the risk of letting patients’ interrupted breathing go untreated against the use of a machine that might cause harm,” continued Jewett. “Patients flooded lawmakers and the Food and Drug Administration with complaints about a chaotic recall and replacement effort that left many waiting for months or more than a year for an updated device.”
Investors reportedly responded positively to the news with the stock surging by almost 33%. According to the NY Times, part of the settlement will be covered by insurance.
Chris Vu, ASBA Staff
Source: NYTimes