Tag: CPAP

Q. Can suppliers bill monthly rentals for Medicare patients with recalled Philips CPAP devices? A. Yes, so long as the patient continues to use the device. Suppliers, however, should be increasingly diligent in their monthly verification procedures because the publicity surrounding the recall may persuade regular CPAP users to stop using their machines, even those produced by Philips’ competitors. Remote monitoring is the easiest way to satisfy the requirement, but suppliers can also...

PETERBOROUGH, N.H. – SoClean Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Philips, alleging the company has sought to blame it for problems related to its recall of certain respiratory devices. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for Massachusetts, alleges Philips has misled the public and engaged in acts of deliberate misdirection, placing blame on SoClean to divert attention away from obvious design flaws, including a poor...

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. – Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare has decided that, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain constraints, it’s all hands on deck for its oxygen products and that means discontinuing its CPAP products.  The company announced in early September that it will discontinue its DV5 and DV6 series of CPAP devices in December – even as a Philips recall has put a premium on those devices – to better manage raw material shortages and better meet increased...

LYON, France – Using PAP therapy can significantly increase sleep apnea patients’ chances of living longer, according to an abstract presented this week at the virtual European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress 2021 and supported by ResMed.  The landmark ALASKA study, “CPAP Termination and All-Cause Mortality: a French Nationwide Database Analysis,” concluded people with obstructive sleep apnea who continued PAP therapy were 39% more likely to survive...

WASHINGTON – Medicare’s recent alert to beneficiaries on the Philips recall of certain CPAP devices resulted in a wave of repercussions for HME providers, including a rash of phone calls from upset patients.  While technically correct, the alert made it sound like providers have repairs or replacements at the ready, when they don’t. Philips just announced on Sept. 1 that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its repair plans, and supply...

MINNEAPOLIS – rtNOW now offers tele-respiratory services specifically for CPAP setup and adherence, and ventilator follow up.  The company works with HME providers to determine the best “insertion point” for these services, whether it’s at the front end when the order comes through or at the back end when patients already have their equipment, says Curt Merriman, chief sales officer and an RT.  “We don’t want HME providers to replace the current...

ATLANTA – Kevin Rumph Jr., a Department of Veterans Affairs employee, has pleaded guilty to using his department-issued credit card to buy more than $1.9 million worth of CPAP equipment between 2013 and 2021, which he then stole and sold. Rumph worked in the VA’s Prosthetic Department at its Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) located at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, where his duties included purchasing a wide variety of medical equipment. Rumph used his government-issued purchase card...

SAN DIEGO – ResMed expects to post $300 million to $350 million in additional revenue in its fiscal year 2022 as a result of a voluntary recall of certain Philips CPAP/BiLevel and ventilator devices, company officials said during an Aug. 5 conference call to discuss recent financial results.  In the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2021, ResMed saw a 30% increase in device sales in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.  “We estimate that we generated an incremental device...

AMSTERDAM – Philips hosted a one-and-a-half-hour conference call on July 26 to discuss its recent financial results and all but a few questions concerned the company’s voluntary recall of certain CPAP devices and ventilators. Here are comments from CEO Frans van Houten on everything from the company’s ability to rebound to its response to civil lawsuits.  No monopolies  On the feedback Philips has received from providers and physicians on the recall: “What...

AMSTERDAM – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has classified the voluntary recall of certain Philips CPAP devices and ventilators as Class I.   The FDA defines Class I as “a situation in which there is reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.”  The agency posted recalls for the various affected devices, along with their classification, to its database on July 13 and July...