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Paralyzed Jockey Loses Ability to Walk After Manufacturer Refuses to Fix Battery For His $100,000 Exoskeleton (www.404media.co)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology

123 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Apologies for posting a pay walled article. Consider subscribing to 404. They’re a journalist-founded org, so you could do worse for supporting quality journalism.

Trained repair professionals at hospitals are regularly unable to fix medical devices because of manufacturer lockout codes or the inability to obtain repair parts. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, broken ventilators sat unrepaired for weeks or months as manufacturers were overwhelmed with repair requests and independent repair professionals were locked out of them. At the time, I reported that independent repair techs had resorted to creating DIY dongles loaded with jailbroken Ukrainian firmware to fix ventilators without manufacturer permission. Medical device manufacturers also threatened iFixit because it posted ventilator repair manuals on its website. I have also written about people with sleep apnea who have hacked their CPAP machines to improve their basic functionality and to repair them.

PS: he got it repaired.

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[+] redisdead -9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

I kind of disagree. Medical devices should be repaired by trained professionals using OEM parts only.

How'd you feel if your pacemaker's battery started leaking acid into your body because Kevin from accounting had made a diy drone once and he found a good deal on AliExpress specials batteries.

Of course, that means manufacturers should be liable for any issues wrt lack of parts or available repairman.

[–] Avatar_of_Self 5 points 2 months ago

So, for ventilators, I'd definitely prefer a DIY repair attempt and rolling the dice instead of having a ventilator that doesn't work, especially when you absolutely need them but don't have them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This is why there are separate rules and standard for implantable, wearable, and supporting medical devices.

[–] redisdead 0 points 2 months ago

When your hacked together CPAP sends asbestos directly into your lungs because Bob from maintenance had some spare time to fix it, you'll be crying about malpractice.