After CityNews first reported on an Aurora man who had been waiting nearly three years for a recalled device he relies on to sleep to be replaced, we’ve heard from more Canadians echoing his frustration.
“I saw your Speakers Corner report and I thought: ‘that’s me,’” Doug Thrower, from Alberta, told us.
Thrower is one of several people who’ve reached out to Speakers Corner after our first report on Bryan Gyene’s struggles to get his device replace aired.
He had been trying to get his Philips-made Adaptive servo-ventilation replaced after it, and several other devices used to treat people with sleep apnea, was recalled by the company in 2021.
Much like Gyene, Thrower, who used a Philips CPAP device, registered his model under the recall protocol set by Philips back in 2021 and was promised he would receive a new one.
“I was first told I would have a new machine by August. Then in August, I followed up, and then I was told it would come later in the fall,” Thrower said. “Then it was coming early in the new year. The dates kept moving back.”
Thrower said he has called the phone number provided to customers for support.
“I called the customer service line for Philips, and they were clear with me that they could only help customers in the United States. They had no information to help a Canadian.”
CityNews contacted Philips earlier this month for our original report with Gyene. Several days after we made contact with them he received a new device.
But Thrower and multiple others who’ve since emailed CityNews say they’re still waiting.
“More than 99 per cent of the registered CPAP and BIPAP sleep therapy devices have been remediated globally,” a Philips spokesperson told us earlier this month.
When we asked about people like Thrower and the several other Canadians who’ve emailed us saying they’re still waiting for their devices to be replaced, Philips had no additional statements to give on the matter.
They did tell us a patient relations team would be in contact with Thrower.
He later received an email from the company which informed him to check back with the store where he purchased the device, telling him they will be processing a replacement.
“I can understand this has to be a huge undertaking for them and a huge cost. But I just don’t understand how they could go for so many years without replacements,” Thrower said.
“Without this device, my sleep is greatly impacted, I need it.”
Thrower is waiting to hear back from his supplier to find out when a new CPAP machine will be delivered.
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