John Morel v. Koninklijke Philips N.V., Philips Electronics Ltd., and Respironics Inc., SCBC No. S216008, Vancouver Registry

Current Status:

February 25, 2025

We are pleased to announce that we have partially settled the class action with Philips, subject to court approval. The partial settlement only covers economic losses, meaning that you will only be compensated for your expenses associated with the recall or for obtaining replacement devices. The settlement does not cover personal injuries. That part of the class action continues (discussed below).

The parties only came to this agreement (contract) on February 20. We were not permitted to share any details of the confidential negotiations with class members until the Partial Settlement Agreement was filed with the British Columbia Supreme Court. We did this on February 21 and now can provide class members with this much awaited update.

We will be hosting a series of virtual town hall meetings to provide class members more information on the terms of the partial settlement. Stay tuned for more details on when those town halls will occur, and how to register.

The Partial Settlement

Here is a brief summary of the partial settlement. In total, Philips will pay $20,000,000 to settle economic loss claims.  Class members will not get all of this money because it must also pay for the cost of administering the settlement as well as court-approved legal fees and expenses.

Compensation to Individual Class Members

Each class member may be eligible for compensation of up to:

– $125.00 for each Recalled Product that you purchased or owned, plus
– a portion of the amount you spent on replacing a Recalled Product (“replacement device”).

The amount of compensation you will receive for a replacement device depends on the age of your Recalled Product at the time of the Recall:

– If your Recalled Product was less than 3 years old at the time of the Recall, you will be eligible to receive up to 90% of the Comparable Device Cost.
– If your Recalled Product was more than 3 years old but newer than 5 years old at the time of the Recall, you will be eligible to receive up to 70% of the Comparable Device Cost.
– If your Recalled Product was 5 years or older at the time of the Recall, you will be eligible to receive up to 30% of the Comparable Device Cost.

Comparable Device Cost has been defined by the average costs of the three classes of Recalled Products:

– For the replacement of a Recalled Product that was a CPAP: $1,200
– For the replacement of a Recalled Product that was a BiPAP: $2,500
– For the replacement of a Recalled Product that was a ventilator: $11,835

Depending on the number of class members who make claims, those amounts may be reduced (or increased) proportionately.

This partial settlement is not binding until it is approved by the court. A more detailed notice will be published after the British Columbia and Québec Courts approve the contents of the notice. In the meantime, the settlement agreement can be found here.

The Personal Injury Claims

This settlement does not cover personal injuries, which have not been resolved. We will continue to aggressively advance those claims and will provide further status updates as that part of the claim moves forward.

Next Steps

Dates for the settlement approval hearings will be scheduled with the British Columbia and Quebec Courts and will be provided in the official notice.

The official notice will also explain how to opt out of this settlement, and how to object.

November 25, 2024

Thank you for patiently waiting for an update.

We expect to have a further update in December.

In the meantime, class members should be aware that the deadline to register for a new device under the Philips replacement program is December 31, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST. We strongly recommend that you register for a new device. If you have not yet registered for a new device, you can still do so at this link: https://www.philips.ca/healthcare/e/sleep/communications/src-update

September 7, 2023

In the parallel case in the United States, Philips agreed to a partial settlement in the amount of US$494 million plus lawyers’ fees. That settlement covers only economic loss claims, such as the costs associated with replacing the devices. It does not include personal injuries or medical monitoring costs, which will be addressed separately.

This settlement is only available to people living in the United States. If you are a United States resident and want to participate in that settlement, you would have to give up your right to participate in our case.

We are attempting to obtain a settlement in Canada as well but, to date, have nothing firm to announce.

August 23, 2023

The court has scheduled the certification hearing from December 9-13, 2024. More information regarding the hearing and how you can attend or observe the hearing will be provided closer to the date.

April 20, 2023

The court granted carriage of this class proceeding to our team, composed of Sotos LLP, Thomson Rogers Lawyers and Rice Harbut Elliott LLP. The decision is available here. We will now be proceeding to certification.

March 15, 2023
The court has informed us that the decision on which law firm gets to proceed will be released by April 20, 2023.

September 20, 2022
We argued the remainder of the motion that will decide which law firm gets to proceed. We are now waiting for a decision.

July 27, 2022
Philips has announced that it plans to replace all of the recalled products by the end of 2023. The announcement is available at this link (Philips Announcement 3).

June 16-17, 2022
We argued part of the motion that will decide which law firm gets to proceed.

March 31, 2022
We held a live virtual town hall will be held to discuss the status and progress of this case and to answer your questions in both English and French. Here is the recording of that town hall:

March 1, 2022
Some dealers have started replacing recalled devices. If Philips or your dealer offers you a replacement device, feel free to take it. Receiving a replacement device, in and of itself, will not disqualify you from participating in the class action. However, if you accept a replacement device, ensure that (1) you do not sign a release of your claims; (2) you keep the tubing of your old device; and (3) you keep the memory card of your old device. For instructions on how to remove the memory device, follow this link (Memory Card Instructions). Failure to do any of those could prevent you from recovering the maximum damages available to you.

February 7, 2022
We filed an Amended Notice of Civil Claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, incorporating new information from the FDA report and Philips’ lack of a remediation plan. That document is available at this link (Amended Notice of Civil Claim).

November 9, 2021
The United States Food and Drug Administration released a report concluding that Philips had received hundreds of thousands of complaints about this problem since 2008, but did not take steps to fix the problem or warn consumers. That report is available at this link (FDA Report).

October 4, 2021
Unfortunately, our case will be delayed by almost a year because another law firm, Klein Lawyers LLP, has brought an overlapping claim. As a result, the court now needs to decide which firm is allowed to proceed. The British Columbia Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for June 16-17, 2022.

September 1, 2021
Philips announced that it would replace all recalled CPAP machines in the US within 12 months, but did not give any timeline for replacing recalled CPAP machines in Canada. The announcement is available at this link (Philips Announcement 2).

August 12, 2021
Sotos, Rice Harbut Elliott, and Thomson Rogers came to an agreement to proceed together in British Columbia, rather than in Ontario.

July 16, 2021
Sotos issued a Statement of Claim in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

June 24, 2021
We filed our original Notice of Civil Claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

June 14, 2021
Philips announced the problem to the public. The announcement is available at this link (Philips Announcement 1).

April 26, 2021
Philips announced the problem to its investors, but not to the public.

Class Action Details

The claim concerns sleep and respiratory care devices manufactured, marketed, and sold by the Defendants, particularly Philips Respironics branded Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure (BIPAP), and Mechanical Ventilators. The devices are manufactured with a Polyester-Based Polyurethane (PE-PUR) sound abatement foam, which degrades over time and under certain conditions into toxic particles which may be inhaled or ingested by the user. The toxic particles may cause cancer, respiratory damage or irritation, inflammation, irritation, nausea/vomiting, hypersensitivity, and/or headache.

Please see the Notice of Civil Claim for more details.

Affected Products

Below is a list Philips devices affected by the recall:

-The A-Series BiPAP A30;
-The A-Series BiPAP A40;
-The A-Series BiPAP V30 Auto;
-The A-Series Hybrid A30;
-The BiPAP Auto Bi-Flex, with Humidifier, with Smartcard, Canada;
-The BiPAP Auto Bi-Flex, with Smartcard, Canada;
-The BiPAP Auto SV Advanced system One;
-The BiPAP AVAPS, C Series Ventilatory Support System-Domestic;
-The BiPAP AVAPS, C Series Ventilatory Support System-Core PKG, Domestic;
-The BiPAP AVAPS Ventilatory Support System-Canada;
-The BiPAP AVAPS Ventilatory Support System-Core PKG, Canada;
-The BiPAP Pro Bi-Flex, with Humidifier, with Smartcard, Canada;
-The BiPAP Pro Bi-Flex, with Smartcard, Canada;
-The BiPAP ST, C Series Ventilatory Support System-Canada;
-The BiPAP ST, C Series Ventilatory Support System, Core PKG, Canada;
-The BiPAP ST, C Series Ventilatory Support System-Core PKG, Domestic;
-The C Series (ASV, S/T, AVAPS);
-The Dorma 400, 500;
-The DreamStation (ASV);
-The DreamStation Auto BiPAP;
-The DreamStation Auto CPAP;
-The DreamStation BiPAP Auto SV, CA;
-The DreamStation BiPAP Auto SV, w/Humidifier, CA;
-The DreamStation BiPAP Auto SV, w/Humidifier/Heated Tube, CA;
-The DreamStation BiPAP Pro;
-The DreamStation CPAP;
-The DreamStation CPAP Pro;
-The DreamStation Expert;
-The DreamStation GO;
-The DreamStation GO Auto CPAP;
-The DreamStation GO Auto CPAP with Humidifier, Canada;
-The DreamStation GO CPAP;
-The DreamStation GO CPAP with Humidifier, Canada;
-The DreamStation (CPAP, Auto CPAP, BiPAP);
-The DreamStation (ST, AVAPS);
-The E30;
-The Garbin Plus, Aeris, LifeVent;
-The OmniLab Advanced Plus;
-The OmniLab Advanced, Domestic;
-The OmniLab, Domestic Core;
-The REMStar Auto with Humidifier, with SD Card, A-FLEX, Canada;
-The REMStar Auto with SD Card, A-Flex, Canada;
-The REMStar SE Auto;
-The Restar Plus with Humidifier, with SD Card, C-FLEX, Canada;
-The Restar Plus with SD Card, C-Flex, Canada;
-The Restar Pro with Humidifier, with SD Card, C-FLEX+, Canada;
-The Restar Pro with SD Card, C-FLEX+, Canada; and
-The Restar, with Smartcard, Canada;
-The Restart, with Humidifier, with Smartcard, Canada;
-The SystemOne;
-The Trilogy 100; and
-The Trilogy 200;