[00:00:00] Host Amber Smith: Here's some expert advice from sleep medicine specialist Dr. Ryan Butzko from Upstate Medical University. What do you tell patients who ask you about the recall of Philips CPAP machines?
[00:00:13] Ryan Butzko, MD: So unfortunately the recall started actually in 2020, just after the COVID pandemic. So it got swept under the rug a little bit. And we've been dealing with it ever since. And they've had multiple recalls since. The original recall was due to a breakdown of a certain foam within the machine, that was potentially carcinogenic, which means that it has the potential to cause cancer.
That breakdown was more or less associated with a certain cleaning product and mostly an ozone-based cleaning product. One of the brands is called SoClean. If the patients weren't using that brand and just cleaning the tubing with soap and water, the risk was demonstrably lower than if they did use that SoClean. So initially what I would counsel patients is to 1., obviously, get your machinerecalled by Philips. And you can go to the Philips website, apply for the recall, and they will put you on the list to replace your machine. But in the meantime, to just clean the machine with soap and water. And as long as you aren't noticing that black debris on the tubing which signals the breakdown of the foam, then it's probably safe.
That being said. If you are that uncomfortable, and you feel that any risk associated with any carcinogens is too much, then what I would recommend is just stopping to use the machine and talk to your sleep doctor to see if you can be a candidate for a different machine, which in some instances, as long as the insurance has approved, I've been able to do. Alternatively, I have had patients go and buy their own machines commercially, which can be an alternative option, which unfortunately sometimes is cost prohibitive, but it can be done.
The two main manufacturers of machines are Philips Respironics and ResMed.
Basically, all of the new patients that are diagnosed with sleep apnea are essentially only getting ResMed machines. And this is because Philips is still working on replacing the machines from the initial recall in 2020. Until they do that, they have not been giving out new machines. So it's almost a certainty that you will end up with a ResMed machine or one of the newer available machines, one of which is called a Luna. But, by far and large, the most common machine that we deal with now is, one of the ResMed.
[00:02:48] Host Amber Smith: You've been listening to sleep medicine specialist, Dr. Ryan Butzko from Upstate Medical University.
