Philips reserves another €165 mil. for sleep apnea machine recall

Philips reserved another 165 million euros for the recall of its sleep apnea devices. The money is for repairing defects in the devices, the medical technology company said on Monday. The costs of this recall are approaching a billion euros, NOS reports.

Philips previously set aside 725 million euros for this recall. Ninety percent of the 5.5 million devices had already been repaired by the end of last year, Philips said.

The Philips devices for sleep apnea - a condition in which a person stops breathing while sleeping - were recalled after the company found that insulating foam in the devices could crumble if it made contact with certain cleaning agents. There was a risk that the patient could inhale foam particles and gases.

The company stopped selling these sleep apnea machines for the time being.

This and other setbacks seriously damaged the company's share prices. Philips' value is over 40 percent lower than a year ago. Last week, Philips also announced that it was investigating the death of a patient possibly linked to the failure of a Philips ventilator.