The Philips group, which had to recall many respiratory devices because of potential health risks, remained silent in the face of questions from the patients concerned, generally suffering from sleep apnea, one of their representatives regretted on Wednesday.
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“Philips remained absolutely deaf and dumb”
“
Philips remained absolutely deaf and dumb
“, Lamented Christian Trouchot, representing the main patient associations during a day of hearing at the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) on the case of Philips respirators.
The Dutch group announced last summer that it was recalling several models of devices worldwide intended to help patients breathe better, in particular used against sleep apnea.
These devices, which are used by some 350,000 patients in France and 1.5 million across Europe, contain sound-absorbing foam.
It is this that is in question: the group noticed that particles came out of certain devices and could therefore be inhaled or ingested by the patient.
This can cause irritation, such as headaches.
» of long-term cancers.
However, since then, Philips has been slow to replace defective devices.
French health authorities have demanded that three-quarters of them be replaced or repaired by mid-2022, a rate that is unlikely to be achieved.
In this context, patients are torn between the -uncertain- risks represented by their respirator and the -well-known- risks of endangering their health by ceasing to use it.
They hardly got any answers from Philips, according to Christian Trouchot.
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"
Philips' responses were either evasive or simply non
-existent," he said.
Patients are "
between a rock and a hard place, the hammer being the patient's pathology, the anvil being his machine
", he concluded.
Also questioned by the ANSM, the representatives of Philips emphasized the fact that this recall campaign had been initiated as a pure precaution and had been followed by more in-depth tests to find out at what point these devices release particles potentially threatening.
“
These tests really take a huge amount of time
,” said John Cronin, medical lead for respiratory devices at Philips, urging patients not to make any decisions without discussing it with their doctor.
The ANSM had previously mentioned the risks of sleep apnea: accident-provoking drowsiness, increased cardiovascular risk, or even worsening of respiratory failure.