Philips will pay $1.1billion to people who said company's $1,600 sleep apnea machines gave them CANCER

Electronics giant Philips has reached a $1.1 billion settlement deal with patients who claim the firm's sleep apnea machines caused their cancers and other diseases.

The Dutch company will shell out the money to settle over 700 lawsuits brought forward by more than 58,000 Americans who say they were affected.

But the deal still must be finalized by a federal judge, and sufferers and their families won’t see any compensation until 2025.

The breathing devices were part of a massive 2021 recall after they were found to release toxic foam and gasses which have been linked to kidney and liver damage, lung infections, and cancers. 

CPAP masks come in various styles and sizes to accommodate different preferences and facial structures. They consist of a motor that draws in room air and pressurizes it. The pressurized air is delivered through a hose to a mask worn over the nose, mouth, or both

The recall affected a range of Philips machines for sleep apnea, a condition characterized by pauses in breathing or choking for air during sleep. 

The machine delivers a steady stream of mild air pressure through a tube connected to a snorkel-like mask to keep the airways from collapsing.

But they were found to be leaking particles of black foam used to dampen the sound of the machine through the tube that connects to the person’s face. As the foam degraded, it entered the airway, which carries a host of severe health risks from asthma to head and neck cancer.  

The foam in the recalled CPAP machines was made with polyester-based polyurethane, which was found to degrade into smaller particles and toxic gases that the user could inhale.

The massive settlement comes less than a year after a partial $479 million settlement on Sept. 8, 2023, to compensate people for financial damages related to the recall.

An estimated 30 million Americans have sleep apnea, but only about 6 million have gotten a diagnosis, while about 5 million Americans have at least tried using a CPAP device, including President Joe Biden. 

Philips still does not admit any fault or liability for its apnea devices, including Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure (Bi-Level PAP), Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), and mechanical ventilator devices, which cost between $500 to $1,650.

Rodney Thomas was just 51 years old when he died from cancer in 2021 after using a Philips sleep apnea machine for several years

While Philips did not admit to doing anything wrong or negligent, its leaders were optimistic that swiftly ending its legal battles would protect its overall cash flow in the near term.

Philips CEO Roy Jakobs said in a company call to discuss early 2024 financial results that they are ‘very confident that this [settlement] will really put an end to this.

‘And that's very important because then, with ending economic loss, economic personal injury and medical monitoring, we really have put the vast majority of these cases behind us with finality and clarity, and therefore, we can focus on really running the business and growing Philips and bringing it back to where it belongs.’

But many Americans will have a harder time moving forward after the 2021 recall that changed their lives.

Rodney and his wife Shawne were married for 32 years and had three children together

Rodney Thomas was just 51 years old when he died from aggressive nasopharyngeal cancer, a rare type of head and neck cancer, after using a Philips sleep apnea machine.

Biden, 80, is now using device to treat sleep apnea 

President Joe Biden, 80, emerged Wednesday from the White House residence with visible indentations on his face - as he's now using a CPAP machine to treat his sleep apnea. 

His family didn’t know the culprit was the machine which he had been using since 2019. 

While they would spot black specks in the tubing, Mr Thomas and his wife Shawne shrugged it off.

In 2020, Mr Thomas developed a severe cough and fatigue, as well as a large lump on his throat. 

A doctor misdiagnosed him with a bacterial infection and gave him antibiotics. 

But when Mr Thomas’ condition didn’t improve, he decided to undergo diagnostic imaging, revealing a tumor.

In January 2021, he was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer. He died just five months later, a few days short of the Philips recall.

After his death, Mrs Thomas learned of the recall through an ad on YouTube. She checked the serial number on her husband’s machine and, to her shock, it matched the one on the list of machines affected.

She told DailyMail.com: 'My husband didn't need to die. This was totally unnecessary. We've lost our world.'

Around the same time as Mr Thomas’ passing, Louisiana Sheriff Brett Stassi, 62, was being rushed to the emergency surgery after a routine doctor visit found he had kidney cancer. 

Sheriff Brett Stassi, 62, used the Philips DreamStation for four years before being rushed into emergency surgery when his doctor discovered he had kidney cancer. It was only after the recall that he learned the black specks from his CPAP could harm his kidneys and liver 

He had to undergo an urgent procedure to remove his right kidney, according to ProPublica.

Mr Stassi, now in remission, said: ‘You’re worried about dying in your sleep, and you come to find out that the machine might be doing more damage than the apnea.’

St Louis native and father of four Terry Flynn, 63, lost his battle with esophageal cancer in 2021 just two weeks after receiving the diagnosis.

Mr Flynn had used his Philips apnea device for nine years. His family can’t know for sure that it was the cause of his fatal cancer, but they still fault the company for failing to warn the public about the devices sooner.

Terry Flynn of St Louis, Missouri died of esophageal cancer in 2021 just two weeks after being diagnosed. His family will never know for certain that the Philips machine lead to his deadly cancer, but they fault the company with failing to warn customers sooner

The agreement will need to be filed with a federal court in Pennsylvania before it can become final.

The FDA reported earlier this year that it had received reports of 561 deaths linked to the devices among a total of 116,000 complaints.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs in the lawsuits said Monday: ‘Ultimately, these combined agreements accomplish what we sought to achieve when this litigation began - holding Philips accountable by obtaining care for those with physical injuries and compensation for those needing new respiratory devices.’