Is it Illegal to Change Settings on One's CPAP Machine?

[Robby Sanders]

No. not that i know of.

Once you buy a CPAP or BIPAP it becomes yours. Of course you have to have a prescription to be able to buy one because it is a medical device.

But you cannot go to jail for changing the settings on your cpap for your own comfort. However nor can you ask an official retailer how to. Reason being is why waste the time asking them when by legal bindings they cannot tell you how to change the settings in the first place. Main reason, if you mess up the machine they cannot be held liable in the event of machine malfunction or even result in injury.

However you are allowed to adjust the machine to your comfort and liking because it is you who are using it.

Best example i can give is will you go to jail for ripping of the mattress label in you bedroom NO! The label is there because the manufacturer is required to have it on the bed. Now if it was really a crime tearing off mattress labels then i would be in prison right now.

Same being with adjusting your cpap its up to you and u only on what is comfortable setting for you.

[kebsa]

This has been a very interesting thread! I have worked in the health field all my working life, i also deal personally with a number of chronic helath problems including complex sleep disordered breathing, MS and diabetes- both from my working life and my own experience i am used to the situation where people with chronic health problems are activily encouraged to play a very active if not central role in the management of there health condition in patnership with their Doctor- unfortunatly, all to often many people fail to take their condition seriously until serious issues arise- and then you have a group of people like the members of this forum who show amazing levels of knowledge about their condition, the diagnosis process and the treatment and control, and i am really stunned to find that rather that greet you guys with open arms ( having patients who take an active part in their own treatment actually provides the better control in most cases and certainly makes the life of the medical practioner simpler), the industry, DME's, RT's and sleep physicians seem to have the very old fashioned idea that patients should not have the knowledge or the access to information and resources to be actively involved in their own care.

I have been chewing on this for a while and then to see such a lengthy thread where it seems that at least some in the industry think it appropriatte to try to scare people that they will break the law if they alter the settings on the machines- that is like saying that an astmatic can not alter their treatment within cerain parameters according to a deterioration in peak flows- but that is what is encouraged with an asthmatics treatment plan. The same for diabetics who also alter their medication with parameters they have discussed with treating physicians in response to sick days such as when we have the flu or an infection- of course, patients in these situations know that they need to act with medical backup but if they waited until they got to see the physician it would delay appropriatte changes to treatment for 24 hours maybe longer- a situation that can have a serious effect. Having patients who can actively participate in their treatment is a physicians dream in most chronic health problems and comes under the heading of preventative health! Why shouldnt a cpap patient be able to send their results directly to their physician and then change the settings based on advise from the physician- as long as there is good communication between patient and physician this should be a win win situation- i am just astounded by all this!

[Robby Sanders]

boom im guilty again besides ripping off mattress labels i have changed the settinging on my cpap like i have been doing when the weather changes around here.

Looks like someone better call the cpap police and hall me off.

no but seriously it is recommended to use the prescribed settings but hey the doctor is not their when you are at your house so you can just call him in the middle of the night if you want to make a change. adjusting your cpap so you can sleep comfortably as well as adequately is up to you. i did and im sleeping comfortably.

Setting very from person to person so adjust your setting on what is beneficial to you and comfortable. If you are un sure use the prescribed settings.

[Debjax]

Let me put some of your minds at rest. Those mattress tags? Once you buy the mattress and get it home it is perfectly legal to take the tag off, they are required to be on for consumer info before the sale. So all you tag dippers are not felons after all. Well not for tag ripping anyway.

[ThomasMcKean]

Let me put some of your minds at rest. Those mattress tags? Once you buy the mattress and get it home it is perfectly legal to take the tag off, they are required to be on for consumer info before the sale. So all you tag dippers are not felons after all. Well not for tag ripping anyway.

Yew are right, of course. But still it is amazing how many people don't know that. maybe if they were to read the fine print they would get a clue. I think it is mentioned. Yew do need a magnifier to read that part, as I recall...

[Robby Sanders]

lol

[LinkC]

I seriously HOPE no one sets their CPAP based upon what's "comfortable" for them!

Apparently, that causes brain damage...

[Biguglydude]

Well,

I asked the FDA. According to them.....and I quote...

"I do not think it is illegal but you need to contact your C-Pap manufacturer representative or your doctor. The pressure is set according to the Doctors Prescription and although it may be possible for you to change the settings I would not advise it until I spoke to my doctor.

Public Health Advisor
Division of Small Manufacturers,
International and Consumer Assistance (DSMICA) Office of Communication, Education, and
Radiation Programs
Center for Devices and Radiological Health U.S. Food and Drug Administration

So.....Live long and prosper, may the force be with you!

[LinkC]

I think we resolved this about 8 pages ago.

Changing your prescribed CPAP pressure without Dr. concurrence is no more nor less legal than upping your 1 tab/day hydrocodone dosage to 1 tab/hr.

It's not what the Dr. ordered, but it's your life... (well, at least until the jones kicks in!)

[rested gal]

Thanks, Dude, for contacting the FDA to ask.

I liked the Public Health Advisor's answer:

"I do not think it is illegal ... "

"I would not advise it" is certainly a far cry away from "illegal."

[jnk]

My view may be a little off. Most of my views are. But I like the fact that RTs are shocked that we adjust our machines. It shows they take their jobs seriously. When they tell us it is illegal for us to change our own pressures, I am glad they believe that, even though they are wrong. I would not want any RTs making an adjustment to my machine without having the doc's Rx right in front of them. That Rx is the law for them. I am glad that is drilled into their brains. I am glad they are shocked and appalled that anyone else would dream of touching those settings.

True, the belief that it is illegal for a patient to adjust his/her own machine is an erroneous belief. But we don't want to disillusion the RTs. Let them believe it. It helps their universe make sense. It gives them dignity.

Next time an RT tells you it is illegal for you to adjust the pressures on your machine, just let your eyes get big and say, "Oh, really, I didn't know that. Thanks." Then walk away smiling to yourself that you know something they are not allowed to know--that people have the right to adjust their own machines.

Be careful with the feelings of medical people. They can be very sensitive. We don't want to make them cry, or worry, or do anything drastic to themselves. Have some empathy for them. As long as we know what is true, they don't have to. They believe what they believe, so let them believe it. Then, when you get home and lock your door, be thankful that the RTs are locked out of your house and bedroom, and that the phantom CPAP dream police that come to them in their beds to arrest them don't live in our heads like they do in theirs. Then we can sleep at night, and so can they.

jeff

[rested gal]

ROTFL, jnk! You created a classic!

[Slinky]

Bless his heart, he really did, didn't he? He's a bit of a classic himself. Yer a keeper, jnk. But don't let it go to yer head.

[ozij]

I love your way of looking at things, jeff!
O.

[grandmma]

DSM & JNK. So glad you are both on this forum!