Five Flemish patients, long-term users of Philips respirators suffering health issues, join a European collective action lawsuit against the Dutch corporation, reports the Saturday edition of Het Laatste Nieuws.
The group litigation case has been launched in a Milan court by patients all across Europe, who, after utilising Philips respirators, have since experienced health issues. Though common in the United States, such actions are infrequent in Europe.
The firm announced a recall of its DreamStation sleep apnoea machines in 2021. As many as 5.5 million devices, including over 2 million in the US alone, were recalled globally.
Users were at risk of inhaling or swallowing pieces of toxic noise-dampening foam that could cause irritation and headaches. The corporation also mentioned an increased risk of long-term cancer associated with this issue.
Following the losses attributed to the recall of the respirators, Philips announced in January 2023 its plans to cut some 6,000 jobs worldwide by 2025. The newly appointed CEO Roy Jakobs announced the "difficult, but necessary further reduction of our workforce" by 2025.
The 6,000 job cuts were in addition to the previously-announced 4,000 that were announced back in October 2022.
Company responds
In response to the lawsuit, Philips said on Saturday that it is awaiting formal notification of the claim in the Italian court. The company added that since June 2021, it has conducted extensive testing with five independent, certified testing laboratories and external experts.
"So far, results indicate that the use of these sleep apnea devices is not expected to result in harm to the patients and fall within internationally accepted safety margins,” a Philips spokesperson said. Additional testing is ongoing.
In April, the Dutch company settled for $1.1 billion in a US case in connection with the sleep apnea affair.