Just in case you missed the news, Philips is issuing a recall on a bunch of its CPAP and ventilator devices:
Foam in the intake tract (downstream of the intake particulate filters) can degrade and spew toxic particles into the air you breathe. They are advising CPAP users to stop using their machines and check in with their doc or equipment supplier for advice. Mine is only a couple of years old and has always been kept in a cool/dry environment, and does not appear to be shedding foam, so I plan to keep using mine until a repair/replacement becomes available.
Thanks for the heads-up. I’m not going to stop using mine (keep it in a cool/dry place and don’t use an ozone cleaner) because I’ll be a zombie without it. But I’ll be waiting for contact from my supplier!
Send it in for repairs?? I seriously cannot sleep without mine. I am guessing many other patients can’t either. I’m hoping there’s either going to be a replacement option or some sort of repair option. Or maybe I can FedEx myself along with the machine?
I dunno how it is where you are but I have to get mine from a durable medical equipment company and they are making a killing off of me having this machine. I hope that business model provides for seamless recall repairs.
There is a YouTube CPAP reviewer who is mad at Philips, saying they’ve been aware of the problem for a long time and are only just now taking action. He’s convinced that they were waiting until their new Dreamstation 2 was ready for release so that they could just hand them out as replacements for all of us with affected older models.
If he’s right, then you won’t have to do without a CPAP at all; you’ll be able to bring your old unit in and go home with a shiny new DS2. We’ll see what comes to pass…
My equipment provider sent out a letter saying that Phillips hasn’t contacted them or given them any guidance so they don’t know what’s going to happen. But they did direct me to go to the Phillips site and register my unit, and to check if it’s even part of the recall (it is).
nearly six month after the recall was announced, it turns out there’s a safety concern with the foam being used in the proposed replacement devices:
So now it’s anyone’s guess as to when acceptably safe devices will be available to replace the recalled devices currently being used by patients.
I was originally planning to just wait for a replacement, but now that the timing is up in the air, I’ve decided to pull the foam from my CPAP’s plastic intake manifold. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there that show how to do this (including how to take the CPAP machine apart so you can get the manifold out to work on it), but they all involve cutting or grinding a portal in the side of the manifold through which to remove the foam, followed by a messy patch involving epoxy or hot glue. OTOH, this guy used a tool for pulling hair clogs from drains, and and was able to get his foam out without any cutting whatsoever.
Philips included the foam for noise control, but the increase in sound level from users who have removed the foam is reportedly negligible. So now I’ve bought a drain weasel and will be doing the same thing to my CPAP.
I got a whole new machine today from Phillips. Just from filling out the recall form on their site. No notice, it just showed up.
I haven’t unpacked it yet but I did open the box and glanced at the paperwork. It seems they want me to transfer the SD card from the old to new machine and send the old one back (they provide a shipping label).
Sucks because I just replaced the gaskets in my machine and bought a bunch of filters. If anyone would like to buy some sealed filters from me, hit me up.
I’ll report back with info about the new machine when I set it up.
I just checked Google-images, and holy crap, the Dreamstation 2 filters are different from the Dreamstation 1 filters. Can’t imagine why Philips would do that. Like you, I’ve got a pretty good stockpile of filters accumulated over the last 2.5 years; insurance paid for part of the cost, but I paid for part of each one too. Shit, what a waste. I wonder why they changed the filter design???
I got this email from Philips last Monday:
Your Philips device replacement order is being processed.
Thank you for your patience as we work diligently to replace your Philips device. As a reminder, your confirmation code is (multi-digit number) .
In some cases, this process may take approximately 12 months. We will stay in communication with you until your device ships.
Please visit Philips.com/src-update for more information and continued updates, including the latest answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).
Thank you.
I knew this whole thing would take a while, but up to twelve months? Based on your experience, maybe it won’t take that long afterall.
FWIW, this method didn’t work despite my best efforts. I just couldn’t get the drain weasel to grab the foam securely enough to pull it out through the serpentine ductwork. In the end, I used a microtorch to repeatedly heat up a utility knife blade, which I then used to melt/slice a couple of square holes in the manifold where I could pull the foam out with needlenose pliers. I put the cut-out plastic hatches back in their holes using a hot glue gun. No noticeable increase in noise from my CPAP, and no worries now about foam-related safety - so even if it does take 12 months for the replacement to arrive, I’m not bothered.
Looks like there’s a class action settlement. From what I can understand, everyone who did the recall/replace will get $100 sent to them. If you went out and bought a new machine, you’ll get paid for the amount of the machine.
I wasn’t able to get too far into the site because I don’t have all my info from Phillips from the recall. But I did their Eligibility flowchart and afaik I will get a $100 check for having done the recall/replace, and they will send it to where they sent the replacement.
Well, $100 is worth my time to read the doc they sent. Most class action suits I’d spend more on postage than the money I’d get back. Or even if postage is covered, the $0.47 is not worth my time.
Guess I’ll have to take a look (the email is currently sitting in my junk folder, which is where “class action settlement” items usually go). Not sure whether I’m really entitled to anything since I’d already replaced my Philips unit, sent it back and received $50.
For Canada, I see that there’s a separate class action that hasn’t yet been allowed to proceed. I find their sign-up form awfully intrusive (name + address + phone + public health insurance number + birth date).
