Our Results Make a Difference
Explore How We Have Helped Our Clients
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$73.21 Million Verdict Birth Injury
The Buckingham & Vega legal team secured a $73.21 million verdict on behalf of a baby who was catastrophically injured due to the negligence of their doctor and medical team.
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Record-Setting $72 Million Verdict Birth Injury
The Buckingham & Vega team obtained a $72 Million verdict in a birth injury case when an OB/ GYN failed to properly monitor the mom during pregnancy.
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$16 Million Truck Accident
Buckingham & Vega obtained a $16 million settlement in a truck accident case. The truck driver was speeding and inattentive (texting) and crashed into the rear of a pickup truck stopped at a stoplight.
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$14 Million Dram Shop Liability
Our team obtained a $14 million dram shop verdict on behalf of a client who was injured due to negligence.
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13 Million Work Injury
Buckingham & Vega represented an oilfield worker who was killed when their company failed to properly train its employees on how to safely move waste bins. Our client was killed when he became trapped between two bins.
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13 Million Truck Accident
Our team secured a 13 million settlement in a truck accident case. An eighteen-wheeler made an unsafe turn in front of a car driven by a grandmother and her family. The grandmother was killed and the family suffered severe injuries.
How Do CPAP Machines Help Those With Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a condition where people experience interrupted breathing during their sleep, which severely affects their overall health. According to the Cleveland Clinic, about 25% of men and 10% of women suffer from this disorder, which has two main types: central and obstructive.
Central sleep apnea occurs when the brain doesn’t send a signal to the muscles that control breathing. Obstructive sleep apnea, the more common of the two, occurs when the upper airway is blocked. It takes increased pressure from the person’s chest muscles to open the airway. This typically results in interrupted sleep cycles.
Many people with obstructive sleep apnea depend on CPAP machines to help them sleep throughout the night. The CPAP machines deliver air pressure to the person using it through a hose and mask, providing them with a cycle of sound sleep.
Philips Respironics provides a number of these types of medical devices, and those diagnosed with sleep apnea depend on them to sleep safely. However, many Philips sleep apnea machines have been recalled due to the potential risk of serious injury or illness.
When medical devices fail to work or have a flaw, the person using the device can sustain significant injuries, and their health can be put at risk. Your injuries and losses resulting from a defective Philips CPAP machine could mean you’re eligible for compensation. A dependable product liability lawyer can represent you in a Philips CPAP lawsuit.
Why Is There a Philips CPAP Recall?
The FDA released an FAQ page that stated Philips Respironics voluntarily recalled CPAP machines, ventilators, and BiPAP or BPAP machines in June 2021. While these medical devices are designed to help with breathing, they work in slightly different ways:
- CPAP: Provides air through continuous pressure with a mask.
- BiPAP or BPAP: Uses a higher pressure when the patient breathes in and a lower pressure when the patient breathes out.
- Ventilator: Controls the patient’s breathing with a set oxygen amount.
The health risk comes from the foam that is used to reduce the sound and vibration the CPAP machines make. The polyester-based polyurethane (PE-PUR) sound abatement foam can break down into small black pieces, and the person using the machine can breathe in the foam.
Inhalation of this foam can cause serious health problems and even become life-threatening. Those who inhale these foam pieces may need surgery to prevent permanent injuries. If someone applied certain types of cleaning methods that weren’t manufacturer-approved, it could create a hot and humid environment that worsens the foam damage.
What Injuries and Illnesses Can PE-PUR Foam Degradation Cause?
Those who sustained injuries from using a recalled CPAP machine and consequently inhaling the foam may have suffered symptoms including:
- Headache
- Asthma
- Inflammation
- Facial and respiratory tract irritation
- Cancer-causing effects on organs
Inhaling the foam from CPAP machines isn’t the only way people can suffer from adverse health effects. The degradation of the polyester-based polyurethane foam can also produce dangerous chemicals. If these chemicals are inhaled, potential health risks include:
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Skin, eyes, nose, and respiratory tract irritation
- Allergic reaction
- Immune system reaction
- Nausea/vomiting
- Toxic and cancer-causing effects