Philips falls, FDA warning on breathing devices

(Reuters) – Philips fell on the stock market on Wednesday after the US health authority, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), issued a new warning regarding respirators produced by the Dutch group.

The FDA, which said no recalls have yet been issued, cited reports from people experiencing thermal issues such as combustion, smoking, scalding and other signs of overheating when the use of Philips DreamStation 2 (DS2) CPAP devices for the treatment of sleep apnea.

The US agency said reports indicate the problems may be linked to an electrical or mechanical malfunction of the machines.

On the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, Philips shares plunged 5.98% to 18.37 euros at 9:34 GMT on Wednesday, while the Dutch index gained 0.32% at the same time.

Contacted by Reuters, Philips said on Wednesday it was in discussions with the FDA about thermal issues with the DS2 devices.

The group said in a statement that it reported the problem to the FDA after a study found 270 complaints over the past three months.

ING analysts point out that the DS2, which contains silicone instead of foam, is the successor to the DS1, which was the main machine involved in the previous massive recall of respiratory devices that began in 2021.

In France, a complaint was filed by 217 people before the Paris public health center against Philips in the case of DS1 respirators questioned for their potentially carcinogenic nature, due to a risk of degradation and toxicity of a foam component.

According to Jefferies, “this situation once again places Philips in the spotlight for quality and safety issues.”

(Written by Augustin Turpin; with contributions from Diana Mandia in Gdansk, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and Christy Santhosh in Bangalore; edited by Blandine Hénault)