Wake Up Texas, 385 Deaths Now Linked To Sleep Machine

Towards the end of last year, medical equipment manufacturer Philips was ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to former CPAP and BPAP clients stemming from a recall that began more than 2 and a half years ago. Texas residents were among the users of the more than 5 million now recalled machines.

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Why were the Philips ventilators recalled?

The cause of the massive recall began as it became known that certain components within the machine itself were breaking down, and that was allowing the machines to essentially pass harmful, foreign materials directly into the respiratory system of the humans that were connected. According to this CBS article, since the beginning of the recall,

"The Food and Drug Administration has since received 105,000 complaints — including 385 reported deaths."

In total, the manufacturer Philips was required to pay out $479 million settlement, and that means any Texans that were using the now recalled devices can file to receive their portion of that settlement.

What was malfunctioning on the Philips CPAP machines?

What did Philips say went wrong with the machines?

Philips has not taken any responsibility for the recall of the 5 millions machines totaling about 20 different models sold between 2008 and 2021, and part of the nearly $500 million pay out was an agreement that they do not have to take responsibility for any known or unknown failures that may, or may not have been ignored.

Now news in this USA Today article yesterday, says Philips will no longer sell the devices at all in the United States moving forward, so millions of sleep apnea patients will have to go elsewhere to achieve a good night's rest.