So we were given a really ridiculous thing that they called a choice, which was use it or don’t.” “You can stop driving the car, but you can’t just postpone breathing.
“Respiratory equipment is not like a car that’s faulty,” says Tischer.
Just one night without a BiPAP is detrimental to Tischer’s health, and other people need their ventilators around the clock. But most people who use these devices can’t go without them, even temporarily. Philips recommends that people register their devices and follow the advice of their doctors when deciding whether to continue using them. Yet over a month after the recall, people who rely on these devices to breathe are still scrambling to figure out what to do. “Respiratory equipment is not like a car that’s faulty” “Our priority is to replace the foam in all the affected devices either by repair or replacement with like devices with the new foam.” “We fully understand the impact that this is having on patients,” says Philips. Philips estimates that 3 to 4 million devices are in use globally, around half of which are in the US. The classification means there’s a reasonable probability that use of a recalled product “will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.” The FDA gave the recall a Class I designation, the most serious type. One model, the E30 ventilator, was on the list of ventilators granted Emergency Use Authorizations by the FDA during the pandemic. On June 14th, the company issued a recall notice for over a dozen of its ventilators and BiPAP and CPAP machines, which are used by millions of people at home, in hospitals, and in care facilities across the country. The degradation of the foam is exacerbated by high heat and humidity, worsening the risks for people in areas impacted by wildfires and record heatwaves. The foam could break down, sending debris and potentially toxic chemicals through the device’s airway that can then be swallowed or inhaled by the user. It’s in my home and on my face every night.”ĭuring its earnings report in late April, Philips noted concerns about the sound dampening foam in several of its machines. “But it feels like the call is coming from inside the house.
“I’d gotten through the wildfires, the pandemic, and then suddenly, it’s like, oh, the monster is not dead yet,” says Tischer. In June, a friend texted to tell her that Philips Respironics, one of the world’s biggest producers of respiratory devices, had recalled many of its ventilators, CPAPs, and BiPAPs. For nearly 30 years, she’s been using BiPAP devices, which push pressurized air into her lungs so she gets enough oxygen through the night.