Philips Settles CPAP Breathing Device Lawsuits for $1.1 Billion

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Philips Respironics has reached a $1.1 billion settlement over claims that people who used their CPAP and other breathing 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. 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 personal injury settlement follows a $479 million settlement reached in September over economic losses to the patients and medical equipment sales companies that financed replacement devices. Philips also agreed to a consent decree earlier this year that forced the company to halt U.S. sales of new devices until certain conditions are met.