According to a release by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Royal Philips, announced that its subsidiary Philips Respironics is notifying customers of its V60/V60 Plus and V680 ventilators about a potential issue with the electrical circuit in these ventilators that controls the 35V power supply to the ventilator and alarm.
Philips Respironics has already notified the relevant competent authorities.
Philips Respironics has identified that there is a possibility that affected ventilator units may cease to operate, potentially without setting off an audible/visual alarm (a so-called silent shutdown), and the patient may no longer receive respiratory assistance. Philips Respironics projects an average of less than one silent shutdown among one million uses per year.
Philips Respironics is advising customers that they must implement one or more of the following actions to mitigate the rare possibility of the hazard caused by the 35V electric circuit issue:
- Implement an oxygen analyzer with appropriate alarm settings for each V60/V60 Plus, or V680; and/or
- Connect the V60/V60 Plus or V680 to a nurse call/remote alarm system, as documented in the instructions for use; upon request, Philips Respironics can provide technical assistance to implement this nurse call/remote alarm capability; and/or
- Monitor the patient with pulse oximetry or other physiological monitoring appropriate to the institution’s capabilities and patient needs.
