AN Italian court has ordered Dutch multinational Philips to replace defective sleep apnea breathing devices by Apr 30, according to a ruling viewed on Friday (Apr 7) by AFP.

The court in Milan ordered the embattled company facing a massive worldwide recall to accelerate its replacement of the faulty machines that should have been completed by Dec 31, according to the Mar 30 decision.

Two consumer associations in Italy had sued Philips on behalf of the 100,000 Italian users of the machines for sleep apnea, a disorder in which breathing stops and starts during sleep.

Some 55,000 people in Italy are still waiting for a replacement from Philips, the groups say.

The company faces a fine of 20,000 euros per day if the replacements are not completed by Apr 30, the court ruled.

Plaintiffs lawyer Stefano Bertone told Il Corriere della Sera newspaper they had shown “that Philips was fully aware of the problem at least since 2014, but waited until after 2021 to intervene”.

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The worldwide recall of the company’s breathing devices, begun in 2021, contributed to Philip’s 2022 loss of 1.6 billion euros (S$2.3 billion).

The company faces ongoing investigations and lawsuits in the US. In late January Philips said it would cut another 6,000 jobs, on top of an earlier announced cut of 4,000 positions.

The devices put users at risk of inhaling possibly toxic foam.

Philips did not immediately respond to a request for comment. AFP