October 28, 2022 Update: Philips was forced to issue yet another CPAP related recall last month after it was discovered that magnets in the face masks of certain Philips CPAP devices were causing pacemakers and other nearby medical devices to malfunction. Now the FDA has classified the CPAP face mask magnet recall as a Class I, the most serious level of recall indicating that the issue could result in serious injury or death. 14 complaints involving “serious injury” have already been received by the FDA.

October 25, 2022 Update: As if on cue from yesterday's update, Royal Philips NV announced it cut 4,000 jobs.  A new CEO, Roy Jakobs, hopes to get Philips back on track. 

October 24, 2022 Update: The biggest risk to plaintiffs in this litigation might be bankruptcy.  Philips is worth less than $12 billion.  But if you sold off Philips in pieces, it would be worth more than $12 billion.  Why?  Because that $12 billion bakes in the litigation risk which devalues the company.  

October 21, Update: SoClean Inc. recently filed an amended complaint in its lawsuit accusing Philips of making false statements to place blame for the massive CPAP recall on the SoClean ozone machines that were used to disinfect CPAP devices. The newly amended complaint contains a wealth of new factual allegations against Philips based on information obtained through discovery in the CPAP Recall MDL. Among other things, SoClean cites the internal documents indicating that Philips was aware of the design flaw with its foam 7 years before the CPAP recall. 

October 16, 2022 Update: Thousands of individuals who claim they were injured by recalled Philips CPAP machines are expected to file cases in the CPAP recall class action lawsuit over the next few months. To make this large influx of new case filings more efficient, the MDL Judge recently issued an order requiring all new plaintiffs to use the court-approved Short Form Complaint when filing. Short complaint forms are common in MDL class action lawsuits and they help streamline the process of bulk lawsuit filings. 

October 2, 2022 Update: A new claim registry has been established in the Philips CPAP class action lawsuit to replace the current system of tolling agreements. The claim registry will permit prospective CPAP plaintiffs to formally register their product liability claim against Philips without actually filing a lawsuit. 

Claim registry systems like this are common in mass tort MDLs and a similar system was used in the Zantac cancer litigation. The registry allows claimants to toll the statute of limitations on their claim without having to file suit. It also gives the MDL Court and the parties more valuable information about the scope and size of the potential plaintiff field.