Houten has been CEO for 12 years and was due to leave the job in April. Roy Jakobs, head of Connected Care will take over.
Philips is in the middle of a recall of ventilators and machines for the treatment of sleep apnea which could lead to large legal claims.
In June 2021 Philips warned that foam used for sound dampening might release toxic gases that could carry cancer risks. It started the recall in September 2021 saying the recall would take a year.
Since then it was found that 5.5 million products needed to be recalled at a cost of $915 million not including litigation costs. In June Philips said the process was only half done.
Yesterday the US FDA said it had received 48,000 new Medical Device Reports of complaints including 44 deaths between May 1 and July 31 this year. Last year the FDA reported 21,009 reports including 124 deaths.
Over 100 class action lawsuits have been brought against the company.
