Yasmina Kattou and Victor Pourcher
modified to
6:42 a.m., February 10, 2022
Can some Philips respirators cause cancer? The question, far from being settled, is testing the French health authorities. Philips brand respirators used in particular for sleep apnea, or by people suffering from chronic respiratory failure are being recalled because they are defective.
The problem was noticed last summer, in June, by Philips but very few defective devices were replaced. The National Medicines Safety Agency is pressuring the industrial giant to speed up their replacements. At the origin of the problem of Philips devices: a sound-absorbing foam present inside some respirators. Fine particles of this foam escape and can be inhaled or ingested by patients.
An immediate danger for patients
Immediate consequence: headaches, irritations and cough. But the giant Philips evokes a theoretical risk of cancer in the longer term. For the moment, this risk has not been proven. The National Medicines Safety Agency therefore recommends that users continue their treatment. “For patients who suffer from sleep apnea or patients who need respiratory assistance throughout the day, stopping a device can lead to immediate danger for these patients”, warns Caroline Sémaille, deputy director of the ANSM.
Same story on the side of Jesus Gonzalez, vice-president of the French-speaking pneumology society. “We are sending the message that there is a clear, strong and short-term risk of stopping the devices that are well done”, he insists on Europe 1.
Lower risk compared to stopping treatment
“For patients who have sleep apnea, there is a risk of returning drowsiness, a cardiovascular risk and fatigue that puts them in danger. You can have car accidents if you fall asleep at the wheel, for example. For patients with respiratory failure with ventilators, there is a risk of increased carbon and coma We are very concerned about its sudden stoppages and we are working to have these ventilators or foams replaced We are not neglecting not this small risk that there is but it is much less compared to stopping treatment.
Pressure on Philips for replacements
Increased drowsiness, stroke or even coma. These risks are far from hypothetical. Of 370,000 defective respirators in France, only 7% have been taken back since the discovery of the problem this summer. The ANSM requires the replacement of three quarters of the devices by the end of June. To put pressure on Philips, the ANSM will initiate a health policy decision. This means that the manufacturer will expose himself to criminal prosecution if he does not respect the timetable imposed by the authorities.