Open letter to Philips from the ELF Sleep Patient Advisory Group

In 2021 Philips Respironics released a Field Safety Notification – a safety warning about a product – about some positive airway pressure (PAP) devices used for treatment of sleep apnoea and respiratory failure. You can read about the safety notification here: https://europeanlung.org/en/news-and-blog/philips-safety-warning-positive-airway-pressure-pap-devices-used-for-treatment-of-sleep-apnoea-and-respiratory-failure/   

Our Sleep Patient Advisory Group (PAG) has recently written an open letter to Philips to highlight some ongoing concerns that they have. 

Letter to Philips

“We are writing to you as a group of patient representatives from organisations across Europe for people with sleep disordered breathing who come together to form the Sleep Apnoea Patient Advisory Group for the European Lung Foundation (ELF).  

Many of our members have been affected by the Field Safety Notification issued in June 2021 and recall of certain Philips PAP devices. Since this recall, there has understandably been much concern about whether each individual’s device is safe and when devices will be changed.  

We welcome the recent news of new tests showing that the VOCs emitted by the affected devices are within safe levels and do not present an increased risk of cancer. However, patients and patient organisations would like more information about who commissioned the tests, what the results from the latest tests were and why the results differed from those found in previous tests. We would request that you find a way to communicate this information quickly and clearly to patient groups so that this can be used to allay the worries and fears of individuals. 

Some of our members are still very concerned about the possible risks of using their device, and if we do not provide them with sufficient information it may result in individuals stopping their treatment. This is compounded by reports of long waits in many European countries for repair or replacement of affected devices, with members reporting difficulty obtaining concrete information from Philips, relevant authorities, health professionals and insurers. 

We would like to work with you to ensure that all sleep apnoea patients with Philips equipment are informed and up to date on what is happening to ensure that they can safely continue their treatment. We very much look forward to your response.”