Phillips / Philips Respironics recent recall notice discussion thread

[JohnO]

Hello to all my CPAPTalk friends! I haven't been here much lately, as my therapy is working well, but popped into say I received this recall notice via UPS Letter yesterday. Surprised it has been almost two months since the first notices went out.

Another 10 months and it'd be time for a new machine anyway. We shall see what happens.

John

Who sent you the letter? Philips, your DME, Medicare, the VA ???

Philips sent the letter -- with a return address of Stericycle in Indianapolis, IN.

[tagureit]

Hello to all my CPAPTalk friends! I haven't been here much lately, as my therapy is working well, but popped into say I received this recall notice via UPS Letter yesterday. Surprised it has been almost two months since the first notices went out.

Another 10 months and it'd be time for a new machine anyway. We shall see what happens.

John

Who sent you the letter? Philips, your DME, Medicare, the VA ???

Philips sent the letter -- with a return address of Stericycle in Indianapolis, IN.

I’ve received no communication regarding a recall. Nothing from Philips or the DME. I don’t watch TV. Only reason I know anything about a recall is I stumbled across a video on YouTube. Of course then I came here to get the straight scoop.

[ILoveFlowers]

Volatile organic chemicals of concern (Dimethyl Diazine and Phenol, 2,6-bis (1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-(1-methylpropyl) are not detectable 24 hours after the first ‘out of box’ use of the device.
Levels of diethylene glycol detected were within an acceptable margin of safety.
The degradation by-products Toluene Diamine and Toluene Diisocyanate are classified by IARC as Group 2B carcinogens. This category is used for chemicals where there is limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and less than sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals.

https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/n ... slash-mhra

Thanks, Granny. This seems pretty normal for new products and not very shocking to me. Sounds like at most, this would affect someone the first night they used their new machine.

[Pugsy]

I have already asked politely that legal and lawyer discussions or such bashing not go on in this thread.

One more time folks....that sort of "discussion" is OT and not all that helpful. Please cease and desist.
Take it private or go somewhere else....but not here on this forum.

Anymore of such talk...thread will be locked and/or gone since apparently the original intent which was just to alert Respironics users to the recall and advise of options....not get into the pissing contest it has become.
You guys are NOT staying anywhere near on topic.

Not in the mood for this bullcrap.

Thank you in advance.

[accrn]

I found out about the recall three days ago. My husband and I both use Respironics machines and we received NO communication from our DME at all (said DME has now been fired and we signed with a new company).

[JLROhio]

It really irks me to read all the comments that people make that they were not aware of the recall.

What's the common theme - no comms from Philips and no comms from their DME.

I don't know what responsibility (legally) that the DME's have in this recall as it relates to notification but Philips should at least have customer data provided to them from the DME's. For those of you who have fired your DME's - CONGRATULATIONS! I hope you told them where they could stick it on your way out too...and let them know how frustrated you were that they did not inform you - it's not like they could claim they didn't know about the recall.

That leads to my last point - I know that the host of this website (CPAP.com) has our e-mail addresses that we registered for.
Another thing - is the CPAP.com has NEVER (as far as I know) spammed me to sell me anything nor sold my e-mail address - which TBH, is honorable these days out on the wild internet we play on. Personal customer data is $$$$$$ these days.

That being said, is it possible, has CPAP.com ever thought of spamming their huge list of users...just this one time....to notify them of the recall - as a public service? I'd rather by spammed by this website vs. having Apple install a scanner on my phone to scan my pictures 10x a day trying to search for illegal items.

I guess that's a question for Pugsy or the owners of this website.

Anyway, just some thoughts I'd throw out there - Sorry if I threw a "legal" thing in there - please, no one respond to anything on the legal side of my comments!
If you do reply, just let me know if you would mind (or not) if CPAP.com sent out some wide-net notification e-mail to let our fellow Philips users, who might not come here everyday, month, or in years, about the recall. Based upon the earnings call Philips did with their stockholders a few weeks back - they are woefully short of registrations.

-

[Graypoet]

Like many of you posting here, I heard nothing from my DME on this recall. I contacted them about getting a new machine and did receive a prompt response, learning that a new prescription from my sleep doctor is required. I’m not concerned about Medicare since they have never paid for a new machine. IF they have a problem with my request I will pay out of pocket.

My question to the membership following this thread, what machine would many of you recommend? I am leaning towards a Resmed Airsense 10, not interested in giving Phillips any more of my business.

I’ve been using my recalled Dreamstation Machine for 4 years, being diagnosed 4 years ago. I hated the machine at first, but now will not sleep without it. I now want a safe machine!

[chunkyfrog]

Keeping patients in total darkness seems to be the one thing
too many providers are good at--and they are unbelievably good.
Most of us expect a moderate reduction in quality or aesthetics
when we choose the less expensive alternative.
Nobody expects to have the rug yanked out from under themselves,
and their sleep, health, and life going totally to crap.
It is right to have no sympathy for Respironics-
-but their customers never had a chance.

[Pugsy]

That being said, is it possible, has CPAP.com ever thought of spamming their huge list of users...just this one time....to notify them of the recall - as a public service? I'd rather by spammed by this website vs. having Apple install a scanner on my phone to scan my pictures 10x a day trying to search for illegal items.

I guess that's a question for Pugsy or the owners of this website.

That's a question for the Goodman's. I know I got a notice from them about the recall because some years back I did purchase a machine from them. It was the System One 560. It wasn't for personal use though..it was for someone out of this country. Long story there and no need for me to go into it.

BUT....I suspect there are a lot of people who buy masks and other stuff from cpap.com and maybe they are using a Respironics machine they got elsewhere...family friend, craigslist, death of a family member or whatever that still have no idea about the recall.
No one knows that these people should be notified. Might not be a bad idea for a blanket email to all cpap.com customers who maybe just get masks or whatever. I personally wouldn't consider that as spam...but maybe more on the lines of a public service announcements. Especially if the person is maybe buying Respironics filters or heated hoses or other such products that are limited to use by a Respironics machine.

[Pugsy]

My question to the membership following this thread, what machine would many of you recommend? I am leaning towards a Resmed Airsense 10, not interested in giving Phillips any more of my business.

Without knowing exactly which model Respironics machine you were using and what settings you were using...we can't really say for sure because there are so many different models and some do very different things but unless you were using one of the specialty high end machines....
the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet (or the AutoSet for Her model) is what I would recommend.

Be careful...there are 4 AirSense 10 models and not all are full data...so make sure you know your models.

If your Respironics machine was some sort of bilevel machine then we need more information to offer more targeted advice.

[Bertha deBlues]

To Graypoet: I switched from the Dreamstation (5+ years of use) to the Airsense10 Auto. It took some getting used to, but I'm so glad I did. My AHI is markedly better.

[chunkyfrog]

. . .
If I could put my machines at the end of the repair/replacement line I would do so since I don't have an urgent need for my machines.

A noble thought, but the priority list may be set in stone--hopefully neediest first.
My guess is they are using a lottery algorithm to make it "random"-ish.

[Pugsy]

. . .
If I could put my machines at the end of the repair/replacement line I would do so since I don't have an urgent need for my machines.

A noble thought, but the priority list may be set in stone--hopefully neediest first.
My guess is they are using a lottery algorithm to make it "random"-ish.

Rumor control has it that the more specialty high end machines affected will likely go to the top of the fix me first list.
Machines like the real ventilators that people depend on a lot of times 24/7 or the other specialty machines like the AVAPS or ASV or ST-A machines. The machines that can actually force a person to breathe because the people need to be forced to breathe.
If they do that...IMHO that is as it should be. I hope that is what they do.
Sorry regular cpap/apap/bipap users...there are people out there in worse shape than you/we are.

[chunkyfrog]

Agreed.
In power outages, I hope the power goes back on first
where there are ventilators or oxygen concentrators.
I can deal with inconvenience and a headache.

[Bookbear]

[/quote] Rumor control has it that the more specialty high end machines affected will likely go to the top of the fix me first list.
Machines like the real ventilators that people depend on a lot of times 24/7 or the other specialty machines like the AVAPS or ASV or ST-A machines. The machines that can actually force a person to breathe because the people need to be forced to breathe.
If they do that...IMHO that is as it should be. I hope that is what they do.
Sorry regular cpap/apap/bipap users...there are people out there in worse shape than you/we are.
[/quote]

Fully agree.. but then, I don't depend on a Respironics unit every night for treatment.