British hospitals will not be allowed to use many Philips ventilators after summer. That decision was taken by the British regulator MHRA. The regulator believes the measures proposed by Philips are not sufficient to address the problems with the devices. Philips is still negotiating with the British regulator.
A Philips spokesperson confirmed this after Eindhovens Dagblad’s reports about it. According to the spokesperson, Philips hopes to change the British regulator’s mind, but if this fails, the machines will not be used by British hospitals from September.
Equipment problems
These are the V60 and V60 Plus ventilators, of which approximately 100,000 are in use worldwide. The United Kingdom uses 2000 devices. It was announced last year that the equipment could suddenly shut down due to the defect without triggering an alarm. According to Phillips, the chance of this happening is very small.
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The company says hospitals can also connect to an external alarm, which is often built into intensive care units. However, the company has already announced the measures. Then Phillips goes to hospitals to tinker with the device. Apart from the UK, regulators around the world have agreed to this, the spokesman said.
damages
Phillips has been plagued by problems with ventilators and sleep apnea devices for some time, and this involves a lot of expenses. The problems mainly concern the foam insulation in some machines. It may crumble or release chemicals after contact with certain cleaning products. For this defect, which is separate from the problems with the V60, Philips has had to replace 5.5 million sleep apnea devices and ventilators worldwide. The company has set aside several hundred million euros for damages.
