Summary: Philips has filed a lawsuit against PSN Labs LLC, claiming incorrect analysis of foam material used in recalled CPAP and ventilation devices. Philips alleges PSN misidentified toxic chemicals, leading to unnecessary corrective actions and significant financial and reputational damage.

Key Takeaways:

  • Lawsuit Filed: Philips sued PSN Labs for allegedly incorrect analysis of foam material in recalled CPAP and ventilation devices, resulting in unnecessary expenses.
  • Recall Background: The 2021 recall affected 15 million devices due to potential degradation of PE-PUR foam, which posed health risks from harmful particles and chemicals.
  • Misidentified Chemicals: Philips claims PSN incorrectly identified dimethyl diazene in the foam, which was later found to be acetone, a less harmful compound.

Philips has filed a lawsuit against PSN Labs LLC, an independent testing firm, for what it said was incorrect analysis of the foam material that caused a recall of the company’s CPAPs and other ventilation products.

Background of the Recall

The testing was related to a 2021 recall that affected 15 million devices globally, where the polyester-based polyurethane (PE-PUR) foam used in these devices for sound and vibration dampening was found to potentially degrade. The degradation could lead to users inhaling or ingesting harmful black foam particles or chemicals, posing serious health risks that could require medical intervention to prevent permanent injury.

Allegations Against PSN Labs

Philips contracted PSN and other testing labs to determine the risks from the foam degradation. In the lawsuit, the company is claiming that PSN made incorrect determinations about the risks of the foam and was not forthcoming with its results. As a result, Philips is claiming that it spent millions of dollars in corrective actions that were unnecessary.

The ongoing recall has cost the company upwards of billion dollars in lawsuit settlements, according to Law.com, and earlier this year a federal court ordered Philips Respironics to halt production of its ventilation products.

Misidentified Chemicals

According to the complaint, PSN told Philips that it had identified in the foam a potentially toxic chemical called dimethyl diazene. Philips later found that the chemical was not present in or emitted from the foam and in fact the chemical that PSN detected was acetone, a compound that presents much smaller potential risks.

Philips also contends that PSN tried to cover up its mistakes and refused to provide the company with raw data from its testing on the grounds that sharing the data would compromise the testing firm’s independence.

Philips is seeking to recover the expenses they incurred from these allegedly incorrect determinations and for the reputational harm the company suffered as a result.