Paralyzed Jockey Loses Ability to Walk After Manufacturer Refuses to Fix Battery For His $100,000 Exoskeleton
Paralyzed Jockey Loses Ability to Walk After Manufacturer Refuses to Fix Battery For His $100,000 Exoskeleton
Michael Straight learned to walk again with the help of an exoskeleton. After an accessory to the device broke, the company refused to fix it.
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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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Keeping repairs locked into your system of parts/techs can at least feign “safety” or “quality”.
But essentially just refusing to repair is an absolute fuck you.
I’ve started choosing the companies I use based much more on the experience offered when their product/service DOESN’T work, rather than when it does.
I’ve started choosing the companies I use based much more on the experience offered when their product/service DOESN’T work, rather than when it does.
Easy to do for a cell phone or a toaster, but I can't imagine there's a ton of options for exosuits that correct your condition, covered by your insurance, that your doctor is familiar enough with to prescribe (for lack of a better term).
Some things are annoying to make abandonware, and some things should be criminal.
And it doesn't preclude the company just deciding your product is no longer worth supporting/going bankrupt.
It might have been fine and seemingly trustworthy to begin with, and then it stops, a few years down the line.
Don't buy a Google Pixel. I'll never get one again because of this. They wanted 250£ to even look at it so I got a new cheap Samsung out of spite.
If i buy A pixel i will buy A refurbished one because no fucking way am I gonna give google money.
That’s the most dangerous part of it for sure. Inherently, the more a company has a monopoly over an industry, the less incentive they have to actually do a good job with anything.
For me it's a mix of what you said and how they treat their employees/where they're making the product.
I spend extra time trying to find higher priced, higher quality, more fairly manufactured products.
That latter requirement is usually a good indicator of the former requirement. Companies that take care of their people typically end up making quality products.
Indeed
Right it begs the question.
Is me not receiving care or having access to care REALLY better for me?
If the answer can't clearly be yes, then they are just choosing to make me ill or kill me for their perceived interests.