California hospitals say Elon Musk sent them biPAP, CPAP machines, not ventilators

by Marty Johnson - 04/17/20 4:17 PM ET

Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk last month announced that his company purchased 1,255 FDA-approved ventilators from Chinese oversupply and shipped them to hospitals in Los Angeles to help treat COVID-19 patients.

However, four of the hospitals on the list told CNN that instead of the sought-after ventilators, they received bilevel positive airway pressure (biPAP) and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines from the billionaire and his electric car company.

“We received six CPAPs and we are very grateful for the gift,” a spokesperson for Sonoma Valley Hospital told the network.

The news comes after California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) office reported on Thursday that the ventilators Musk promised never made it to their destinations. At the time, Musk responded by tweeting a list of the hospitals that he said he sent the ventilators to and asked Newsom to fix the “misunderstanding.”

Kathleen Piché, director of public information for the L.A. County Department of Health Services, noted that the machines had “been distributed to hospitals in our system and are being used as intended.”

“These units are used for breathing and airway support, reducing the need for certain patients to be placed on mechanical ventilation,” she said.

While they do help breathing, biPAPs and CPAPs aren’t ventilators and cost significantly less. A single CPAP machine costs about $500, with biPAPs costing about $1,200. However, a ventilator costs between $20,000 and $50,000.

Tags California California Coronavirus Elon Musk Elon Musk Gavin Newsom ventilators