Physician pleads guilty to adulterating, misbranding CPAP devices 

SPOKANE, Wash. - Dr. Eric Edward Haeger, age 57, of Brewster, Wash., has pleaded guilty to adulterating and misbranding CPAP and BiPAP devices with the intent to defraud or mislead, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Washington. In June 2021, Philips Respironics initiated a recall for certain CPAP and BiPAP devices due to potential health risks associated with the foam used in the devices for sound abatement. Based on court documents: 

• Between July 2021 and July 2023, Haeger purchased more than 500 used and recalled CPAP and BiPAP devices through online resellers. Haeger and others at his direction would then open the devices, attempt to remove the foam using screw drivers, hooks and other tools, and then put the devices back together. This conduct occurred in locations that were not designed or operated as clean rooms for the purpose of manufacturing medical devices. 
• Haeger and staff at his sleep clinic under supervision would then provide the recalled devices to Washington State Medicaid patients. 
• Staff at the sleep clinic under Haeger’s direction and control would then bill the used, recalled devices to Medicaid with the false and fraudulent representation that they were actually new devices that were in good working order. 

Dr. Haeger is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on March 24, 2026.  The plea agreement can be found here. The case is being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations, the Washington State Medicaid Fraud Control Division, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy J. Kelley.