Medical equipment: Difference between revisions

Line 7:

Various medical equipment and the companies that produce them have come into scrutiny due to anti-consumer practices.

Startup companies often prioritize growth over security, safety, functionality and support. Most startups fail. When they struggle for money, or fail, their assets, including user data, parts and user support are often exploited to maximize monetary return.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=12 Dec 2022 |title=Orphaned neurological implants |url=https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/12/unsafe-at-any-speed/#this-is-literally-your-brain-on-capitalism |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |website=Pluralistic}}</ref> Public funding of development, requiring that products be standard, open and replicable is one approach to protecting consumers.<ref name=":2" />

Startup companies often prioritize growth over security, safety, functionality and support. Most startups fail. When they struggle for money, or fail, their assets, including user data, parts and user support are often exploited to maximize monetary return.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=12 Dec 2022 |title=Orphaned neurological implants |url=https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/12/unsafe-at-any-speed/#this-is-literally-your-brain-on-capitalism |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |website=Pluralistic}}</ref> Some say that developers of implants should ensure that there is funding and resources available so that all users can be supported, even if the company discontinues the product or fails.<ref name=":3" /> Public funding of development, requiring that products be standard, open and replicable is one approach to protecting consumers.<ref name=":2" />

When scans like MRI are done, implants may need to be set to a scan-safe mode. When a company abandons the device, that may not be possible. Thus patients may have to have a device removed, or lose access to important medical diagnostics.

Line 40:

Hundreds of thousands of people rely on neural implants.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Drew |first=Liam |date=6 Dec 2022 |title=Abandoned: The human cost of neurotechnology failure |url=https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-022-03810-5/index.html |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |website=Nature}}</ref> Neural stimulators are used to reduce pain, to reduce trembling in Parkinson's patients, to provide substitutes for senses like hearing or sight. Implanted devices sometimes become inoperable when companies abandon them.<ref name=":3" /> Devices may need to be recalibrated to remain effective, batteries need replacing, or they need repair.<ref name=":3" />

==== Second Sight Retinal Implants ====

====Second Sight Retinal Implants====

Abandonware. Retinal implants gave patients a limited ability to perceive their environment, a substitute for sight. The company stopped supporting the devices, and later merged with another company, which abandoned users entirely.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Strickland |first=Eliza |last2=Harris |first2=Mark |date=15 Feb 2022 |title=Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye-obsolete |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |website=IEEE Spectrum}}</ref> Users could not get device put into MRI safe mode to have brain scans<ref name=":4" />. Users lost support without warning.<ref name=":4" /> Nonfunctional implants can still cause problems like crippling vertigo.<ref name=":2" />

Line 54:

These devices are essential for millions of people to work, interact with society, or simply move around their homes. In the United States, two companies control the market. Medicare only covers indoor wheelchairs, which are often not built robustly, break down frequently, and companies make them hard and expensive to service or repair. Even simple adjustments often require a service call. This locks people people out of their lives and puts them at risk for health effects of being bedridden. Some US states, such as Colorado have enacted right to repair legislation in this area.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=2022-06-07 |title=When DRM Comes For Your Wheelchair |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/when-drm-comes-your-wheelchair |access-date=2025-10-06 |website=EFF}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hawryluk |first=Markian |date=2 Jun 2022 |title=Despite a First-Ever ‘Right-to-Repair’ Law, There’s No Easy Fix for Wheelchair Users |url=https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/power-wheelchair-users-right-to-repair-law-no-easy-fix/ |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |website=KFF Health News}}</ref>

=== Software ===

===Software===

A study was conducted in Cambridge in relation to software-dependent medical devices and how they would benefit from right to repair.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lindgren |first=Lars |last2=Kesselheim |first2=Aaron S. |last3=Kramer |first3=Daniel B. |date=8 Mar 2023 |title=The Right to Repair Software-Dependent Medical Devices |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-law-medicine-and-ethics/article/abs/right-to-repair-softwaredependent-medical-devices/F08B93DD92327BAA34D4D67476A424C9 |url-status=live |access-date=16 Mar 2025 |website=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Various medical equipment and the companies that produce them have come into scrutiny due to anti-consumer practices.
-Startup companies often prioritize growth over security, safety, functionality and support.  Most startups fail. When they struggle for money, or fail, their assets, including user data, parts and user support are often exploited to maximize monetary return.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=12 Dec 2022 |title=Orphaned neurological implants |url=https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/12/unsafe-at-any-speed/#this-is-literally-your-brain-on-capitalism |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |website=Pluralistic}}</ref> Public funding of development, requiring that products be standard, open and replicable is one approach to protecting consumers.<ref name=":2" />
+Startup companies often prioritize growth over security, safety, functionality and support.  Most startups fail. When they struggle for money, or fail, their assets, including user data, parts and user support are often exploited to maximize monetary return.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=12 Dec 2022 |title=Orphaned neurological implants |url=https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/12/unsafe-at-any-speed/#this-is-literally-your-brain-on-capitalism |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |website=Pluralistic}}</ref> Some say that developers of implants should ensure that there is funding and resources available so that all users can be supported, even if the company discontinues the product or fails.<ref name=":3" />  Public funding of development, requiring that products be standard, open and replicable is one approach to protecting consumers.<ref name=":2" />
 When scans like MRI are done, implants may need to be set to a scan-safe mode.  When a company abandons the device, that may not be possible.  Thus patients may have to have a device removed, or lose access to important medical diagnostics.
@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 Hundreds of thousands of people rely on neural implants.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Drew |first=Liam |date=6 Dec 2022 |title=Abandoned: The human cost of neurotechnology failure |url=https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-022-03810-5/index.html |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |website=Nature}}</ref>  Neural stimulators are used to reduce pain, to reduce trembling in Parkinson's patients, to provide substitutes for senses like hearing or sight. Implanted devices sometimes become inoperable when companies abandon them.<ref name=":3" />  Devices may need to be recalibrated to remain effective, batteries need replacing, or they need repair.<ref name=":3" />
-==== Second Sight Retinal Implants ====
+====Second Sight Retinal Implants====
 Abandonware.  Retinal implants gave patients a limited ability to perceive their environment, a substitute for sight.  The company stopped supporting the devices, and later merged with another company, which abandoned users entirely.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Strickland |first=Eliza |last2=Harris |first2=Mark |date=15 Feb 2022 |title=Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye-obsolete |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |website=IEEE Spectrum}}</ref>  Users could not get device put into MRI safe mode to have brain scans<ref name=":4" />.  Users lost support without warning.<ref name=":4" />  Nonfunctional implants can still cause problems like crippling vertigo.<ref name=":2" />
@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 These devices are essential for millions of people to work, interact with society, or simply move around their homes.  In the United States, two companies control the market.  Medicare only covers indoor wheelchairs, which are often not built robustly, break down frequently, and companies make them hard and expensive to service or repair.  Even simple adjustments often require a service call. This locks people people out of their lives and puts them at risk for health effects of being bedridden.  Some US states, such as Colorado have enacted right to repair legislation in this area.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=2022-06-07 |title=When DRM Comes For Your Wheelchair |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/when-drm-comes-your-wheelchair |access-date=2025-10-06 |website=EFF}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hawryluk |first=Markian |date=2 Jun 2022 |title=Despite a First-Ever ‘Right-to-Repair’ Law, There’s No Easy Fix for Wheelchair Users |url=https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/power-wheelchair-users-right-to-repair-law-no-easy-fix/ |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |website=KFF Health News}}</ref>
-=== Software ===
+===Software===
 A study was conducted in Cambridge in relation to software-dependent medical devices and how they would benefit from right to repair.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lindgren |first=Lars |last2=Kesselheim |first2=Aaron S. |last3=Kramer |first3=Daniel B. |date=8 Mar 2023 |title=The Right to Repair Software-Dependent Medical Devices |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-law-medicine-and-ethics/article/abs/right-to-repair-softwaredependent-medical-devices/F08B93DD92327BAA34D4D67476A424C9 |url-status=live |access-date=16 Mar 2025 |website=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>