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Sure, messing with any medical device could be fatal - but so can the medical condition itself. I would like to live in a world where I can make those decisions
by yholio 8y ago
Sure, messing with any medical device could be fatal - but so can the medical condition itself. I would like to live in a world where I can make those decisions on my own and improve my life by taking calculated risks, as opposed to a world where my death is an acceptable trade-off for an overloaded and risk averse medical establishment.
That being said, the regulations around medical devices and healthcare have evolved in a certain cultural environment where blame is the name of the game: if any treatment ever fails, the public and political uproar against the healthcare industry is always vicious and patients will never accept any personal responsibility. It's understandable why the medical professionals react by removing any kind of control away from the patient - you cannot assume responsibility for something that you do not control.
That lone idiot that pushes his treatment to eleven to see if it has any effect on his erection ruins it for the rest of us. And I guarantee you that for any user accessible feature on a medical device, there will be such an idiot, and that he or his family will sue. And that's the case against which medical manufacturers optimize against, in this instance, by abusing unrelated copyright regulations and denying life saving options to other patients.
- carlmr 8y ago>Sure, messing with any medical device could be fatal - but so can the medical condition itself. I would like to live in a world where I can make those decisions on my own and improve my life by taking calculated risks, as opposed to a world where my death is an acceptable trade-off for an overloaded and risk averse medical establishment. >That being said, the regulations around medical devices and healthcare have evolved in a certain cultural environment where blame is the name of the game: if any treatment ever fails, the public and political uproar against the healthcare industry is always vicious and patients will never accept any personal responsibility. It's understandable why the medical professionals react by removing any kind of control away from the patient - you cannot assume responsibility for something that you do not control. I completely agree. I think there should just be laws governing this though. It needs to be an adult making the decision that is sufficiently smart to understand the risks. And then you sign something that absolves others if you take that personal risk and can't sue if it harms you.