An exoskeleton let a paralyzed man walk, then its maker refused repairs

http://archive.today/cKeCi

So here's my dumb little fantasy law, I'd love for anyone to tell me if this is stupid.

1. In the event of a bankruptcy proceeding, all source code for a hardware product shall be open-sourced.

2. In the event of a hardware product that is dependent upon cloud services being discontinued, instructions for "rooting" the product, and the firmware source code shall be open-sourced.

3. Companies that acquire the rights to patents of bankrupt companies and discontinued products must keep the cloud servers going or open-source blah blah.

The only serious counter argument I can think of here is the tangle of patents, to which I retort, the price of keeping the patents is keeping the furnaces powering the cloud servers running.

Am I crazy here?

Why in the world did the reporters not try to investigate the FDA rules that supposedly prevents this, instead of trying to shame the company? Either the company is wrong, or that's the real story here.

As for needing to provide parts into the future, a friend's company does aftermarket service for many expensive pieces of government equipment. Presumably they're able to make what's needed because the government requires it of the original manufacturer.

The government could require that manufacturers either supply replacement parts or specs for someone else to manufacture them. I suppose the latter would be required to avoid gouging. It'd be interesting to think about the secondary effects—if you can't make a lot of money off of service, will you make longer-lasting products and charge appropriately?

Right to repair should cover things like putting locks on devices that are illegal to unlock to repair. Making it illegal to do whatever the Frick you want to something you bought. Making it illegal to make parts yourself or have 3rd party companies make a part.

It should not force companies to build parts for you. Forcing people to do work they do not want to is insane. That kind of talk would prevent me from building anything and letting my neighbor borrow it.

And no, saying "it wouldnt apply to you just <insert demographic>" doesn't make me feel any better about that.

And this is why right to repair laws are a thing.

Also, genuinely I’d be interested in helping this guy hack his exoskeleton to let it work again.

If I'm understanding correctly, would the maker accept to repair the structure will be breaking the law. In this case is understandable. The only thing worst than being paralyzed is being paralyzed while burnt alive by charging a broken battery too old. At some point the risk is just too high for the maker.

Maybe those devices should be just leased for a month fee, so the company is supported and can keep the lights on. Insurance and government could support the man paying a part of the bill.

Given the mechanical complexity of such devices. Would it ever be profitable to continue producing parts for them?

Unless the company has stagnated, the tech and parts would improve overtime where they no longer match.

But also, would you want a third party to continue producing the parts? Seems like a security leak there.

For anyone curious, the older models cost between $69,500 - $85,000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReWalk

Now they seemingly cost $100k+

The manufacturer wants them to "upgrade" to a new model. It's not like the eye implant where the vendor exited the industry.

> Medicare said it would start paying for 80 percent of exoskeletons, which at Lifeward cost about $100,000.

> And although that coverage doesn’t extend to paraplegics who have injuries to their spine as high up as Straight

Oh man, i feel for everyone who live in the USA and require any sort of medical help. Either you spend all your hard earned money or you got to get in a though fight with the medical administration.

I'm curious as to why we can't have a similar structure for medical devices that we have for military equipment.

Essentially that the government would put out contracts based on studies that have been extensively peer reviewed.

People/hospitals then can buy them as needed.

So in the end it was a mix of bad company actions and regulations that made this repair a struggle for him.

I heard from a mobility scooter technician that there is barely any second market for the as typically the health insurance will get you a new one every few years. So similar to the companies response to just buy the newest model.

I wonder if he posted the part on Reddit they could have helped him

[dead]

In other news Microsoft abandoned the surface duo after 1 yearly android update. If you don't control the software you don't really own the device, whether it be a phone or an exoskeleton.