In 2021, Philips announced a recall of certain homecare devices because of a potential risk caused by degraded foam particles. TSN analyzed the event in a previous Insight.

Almost two years later, the company is still investing significant effort into addressing the crisis properly. Roy Jakobs, CEO of Royal Philips named “the health and well-being of patients, both in terms of safety and providing replacement devices” as the company’s priorities.

Tests of the recalled devices, conducted by five independent labs, have found no appreciable health risks from degraded foam particles. Moreover, the tests have confirmed that ozone cleaning solutions can accelerate the foam degradation process. These tests have been completed on DreamStation 1st generation devices and more tests are pending on 5 other devices.

As of January 2023, Philips has produced 90% of the replacement devices and shipped >2 million devices. Although significant resources were invested into the replacement program, the company acknowledges that replacing 5 million devices is admittedly a lengthy process.