this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2024
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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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[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (15 children)

We probably shouldn't let people repair their own brake pads but that's another argument. Not enough people die from randoms repairing their own brake pads. Repair an insulin pump the wrong way and it will absolutely kill you. Oxygen masks, CPAP machines, pace makers. So many medical devices that people rely on for life or death care.

I'm all for right to repair. But having seen some of the thing people have done to repair safety items I have serious doubts about the efficacy of someone repairing something wrong and killing their grandma. I can appreciate that not everyone feels the same way. I can appreciate that there are absolutely people out there who can and do repair their own devices, cars, machinery etc, and they may do it well. But there are always going to be people out there who don't know what they're doing but will try and then we'll hear about them on the news because they touched a capacitor or something.

[–] tabular@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (6 children)

The FDA found there isn't evidence that 3rd party repair is any less safe than 1st party repair.

If one part needs to be replaced and the company who owns the patients/copyright tells the manufacturer to not sell it to others then the patient cost is needlessly a whole new machine. How many lives would be saved by lowering cost of getting medical equipment working?

[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world -2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

I read the article. Third party repair not being your grandson who's replacing the seal on your CPAP mask, because that's not what I mean not does it mean going to a third party repair place.

It being less safe for the vast majority doesn't mean that there aren't going to be people who get it wrong. People repair their brakes wrong all the time. It's absolutely caused accidents. But not enough to be statistically important in the grand scheme of 8 billion people. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen or that it can't.

There's a reason a lot of YouTube videos that show you how to repair things are "for educational purposes only". It's because they can be held liable if something bad happens because you followed their guide.

[–] GiveMemes@jlai.lu 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

So because some people are reckless, all people should be unable to fix their shit?

[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago

People keep ignoring the fact that I didn't say that. I actually feel the opposite. You inferred or interpreted what I said that way and that's on you.

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