CPAP Litigation Update: $1.05B Settlement, MDL, and FDA Decree

Here is the current Philips CPAP lawsuit update: the $479 million economic loss settlement received final approval in April 2024 and payments are being issued on a rolling basis through spring 2026, while a separate $1.05 billion personal injury settlement is now in the claims-review phase. The critical point for anyone learning about this litigation now is that nearly every filing window has already closed.¹²

Deadlines That Have Already Closed

Start here, because timing controls everything else. If you used a recalled Philips CPAP or BiPAP machine and haven’t yet taken action, the calendar has largely closed the door.

Economic loss claims closed on August 9, 2024. No new claims are being accepted.¹
Personal injury settlement registration closed on January 31, 2025.²
Extraordinary Injury Fund applications were open April 1 through August 1, 2025, and only to claimants who had already registered for the personal injury settlement.³

The class settlements bind participating class members, and late claims are generally not accepted. If you missed these windows, the only step worth taking is consulting an attorney about whether any individual legal avenue remains open for your specific situation.

Economic Loss Settlement: Payments Through Spring 2026

The court granted final approval of the $479 million economic loss settlement on April 25, 2024. It reimburses claimants for purchases, rentals, replacements, and out-of-pocket costs tied to a recalled device. No medical diagnosis was required for this track.

Payments for device-related awards, cash benefits, and device replacement awards are being processed on a rolling basis through spring 2026.¹ If you filed a claim and haven’t received payment, the settlement administrator’s portal lets you check status using your claim ID.

Personal Injury Settlement: $1.05 Billion in Review

Under a master settlement executed on May 9, 2024, Philips agreed to pay $1.05 billion into a qualified settlement fund for eligible personal injury claimants.² It is among the largest product liability settlements in recent years.

Registered claimants are now moving through document verification and injury evaluation by the settlement administrator, BrownGreer. Awards are calculated on a point-based methodology, with higher totals for more severe injuries and longer exposure periods.

Extraordinary Injury Fund

A separate pool within the personal injury settlement compensates the most severely harmed claimants. The Extraordinary Injury Fund covers cases involving death from a qualifying injury, lung transplant, feeding tube or tracheotomy, permanent disfigurement, loss of body parts or speaking ability, cancer recurrence, and chemotherapy or radiation treatment.³ Applications required a $250 fee per category, refunded through deduction from the award if successful. Claimants whose standard point total exceeded the 2,750-point cap could also apply for additional compensation from this fund.

Medical Monitoring Program

On June 27, 2024, the court granted preliminary approval of a separate class settlement creating a Medical Advancement Program for recalled device users who have not yet developed symptoms.¹ The program provides long-term health surveillance over a reported 15-year period, with approximately $25 million allocated to it.

This program operates separately from the other two settlements. Participating in the economic loss settlement does not affect eligibility for medical monitoring.⁴ Details about scope and participation are available through the dedicated Medical Advancement Program website linked from the main MDL settlement page.

Cases Still Pending in the MDL

Federal cases were consolidated into Multidistrict Litigation No. 3014 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, before Judge Joy Flowers Conti.⁵ As of mid-2026, roughly 622 cases remain pending.

The two major class settlements have resolved the bulk of economic loss and personal injury claims, but individual cancer-related lawsuits that fall outside the settlement framework have not been resolved. Philips has indicated it intends to defend those claims aggressively, and no bellwether trial dates have been publicly scheduled. For plaintiffs in that category who did not opt into the settlement program, the litigation could continue for some time.

Taxes on Your Settlement Payment

How the IRS treats your payment depends on what it compensates. Damages received for personal physical injuries or physical sickness are excluded from gross income under federal tax law, so the personal injury portion of a CPAP settlement is generally not taxable.⁶ The exclusion covers medical costs, pain and suffering tied to a physical injury, and lost wages resulting from the physical condition.

The economic loss settlement is treated differently. Reimbursements that simply restore what you paid for the device typically aren’t taxable because they don’t create new income. Any amount exceeding your original cost could be taxable, and any punitive damages allocated within an award are always taxable regardless of the underlying claim.⁶

One trap catches people off guard. If you deducted medical expenses on a prior year’s return and then receive a settlement reimbursing those same expenses, the reimbursed amount may be taxable under the tax benefit rule. Anyone receiving a substantial personal injury award should consult a tax professional before filing.

Medicare and Insurance Liens on Your Award

A settlement check isn’t the whole story. If Medicare paid for medical treatment related to your CPAP injury, federal law requires you to reimburse Medicare from your settlement proceeds. The Medicare Secondary Payer Act gives the government the right to recover those conditional payments, and failure to repay can lead to the government pursuing double damages.⁷ This obligation exists whether or not anyone reminds you about it.

Private health insurers often hold similar reimbursement rights through subrogation clauses. Employer-sponsored plans governed by ERISA tend to have particularly strong recovery rights that can override state-level protections. In practice, a portion of your settlement may need to return to your insurer for treatment costs already covered. These liens are often negotiable, especially when the settlement doesn’t fully compensate all losses, but ignoring them is a serious mistake. Attorneys experienced in mass tort settlements typically handle lien resolution as part of the claims process; pro se claimants must address it themselves.

FDA Consent Decree and Device Availability

Separately from the civil lawsuits, the FDA secured a federal consent decree against Philips Respironics on April 9, 2024. The decree bars the company from manufacturing and distributing new CPAP machines, BiPAP machines, and related devices at its Pennsylvania and California facilities until it completes recall-related repairs, replacements, and refunds and demonstrates compliance with current good manufacturing practices and FDA reporting requirements.⁸ Philips cannot resume operations until it receives written notice from the FDA confirming compliance.

The ban carries limited exceptions. Devices the FDA determines to be medically necessary may still be distributed, and Philips can supply replacement parts and accessories for machines already in use.⁸ As of mid-2026, Philips has not received FDA clearance to resume normal production.

1
Philips Respironics CPAP, Bi-Level PAP, and Mechanical Ventilator Products Litigation. CPAP Philips MDL Settlement – Home
2
Philips Respironics Personal Injury Settlement Program. Philips Respironics Personal Injury Settlement Program
3
Philips Respironics Personal Injury Settlement Program. Frequently Asked Questions
4
Philips Respironics CPAP, Bi-Level PAP, and Mechanical Ventilator Products Litigation. FAQs – CPAP Philips MDL Settlement
5
United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Transfer Order – MDL No. 3014
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 104 – Compensation for Injuries or Sickness
7
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Manual – Chapter 7
8
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Federal Court Enters Consent Decree Against Philips Respironics Following Recall of Certain Sleep Therapy Machines