LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Martingale Risk, a specialist in global securities loss recovery, is originating a group action in the Netherlands against Philips on behalf of institutional investors, together with Grant & Eisenhofer as the Global Counsel and Old Haven Funding LLC as the Funder.
As reported by the U.S. regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), starting from at least October 2015, Philips was notified by customer complaints regarding its respiratory devices (sleep therapy devices used for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea) causing potential health issues related to foam degradation. Upon receipt of this crucial information, Philips failed to proceed with any appropriate methods of risk analysis and to implement any corrective or preventive actions. Shareholders were not provided with any details regarding the severity of these matters nor the extent that Philips would be harmed financially, which in 2022 already resulted in €486 million in utilized provisions.
Following the June 14th, 2021 recall on millions of respiratory devices to address the health risks related to the foam, the FDA – that classified the recalls as Class I, the most serious type of recall – moved to swiftly investigate Philips, closing their investigation with several critical observations.
In response to an updated safety communication by the FDA, on Sept. 7th, 2023, Philips agreed to pay out at least $479 million to US consumers, as a means of managing and compensating for the health issues caused by its respiratory devices.
On April 4th, 2024, the FDA and the Department of Justice (DoJ) made a joint statement acknowledging Philips’ supposed failure to abide by the instructions and procedures of the remediation plan. This led to a recent Court-approved Consent Decree of Permanent Injunction (filed on April 9th, 2024), whereby Philips’ respiratory devices can no longer be manufactured or distributed from its US facilities, until they comply with various stringent reparative duties, as specified in the Recall Remediation Plan.
The finalization of the Consent Decree is undoubtedly a significant milestone for the protection of US-based consumers, yet action is still needed to further redress Philips’ misconduct, namely for institutional investors who purchased its equities, which were greatly impacted by Philips’ behavior. Martingale Risk, as the originator of the group action, will bring the proceedings in the Netherlands to recover its clients’ investment losses, which occurred throughout the period Nov. 2015-Nov. 2021.
Terms & Conditions:
Martingale Risk, together with Grant & Eisenhofer and Old Haven will be operating on a full contingent fee basis of the recovered amount as all legal, expert costs and expenses will be covered.
How to Proceed/Registration Deadline:
If your firm has invested or traded in Philips common stock and/or ADR from Oct. 30th, 2015-April 24th, 2023, please contact Mr. Marco Delzio (marco.delzio@martingalerisk.com) or Mr. Peter Ogden (peter.ogden@martingalerisk.com) for a free non-binding preliminary analysis.
The deadline to register for the proceedings is July 31st, 2024.
