Former jockey Michael Straight, who is paralyzed from the waist down, is unable to walk again after the manufacturer of his $100,000 exoskeleton refused to repair a faulty battery. The part is said to cost just $20, but the manufacturer claims the medical device is too old to repair.
404 media report Michael Straight, a former jockey who learned to walk again with the help of a $100,000 ReWalk Personal exoskeleton, lost his ability to walk again after the manufacturer refused to repair the defective part. Straight, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a horse-riding accident in 2009, relied on an exoskeleton to regain his ability to walk. However, earlier this month, a problem occurred in the wiring of the attached clock that controls the exoskeleton, rendering the device inoperable.
I contacted the manufacturer directly hoping for a quick resolution to what seemed like a minor issue. Unfortunately, he was informed that the company had taken the more than five-year-old machine out of service, even though Straight had paid nearly $100,000 for the equipment and necessary training. The cause of the failure was a small green connection related to the watch's battery. The replacement cost for this part is only $20.
Frustrated by the lack of support from the manufacturer, Straight took to social media to share her story. “After 371,091 steps and 10 years of incredible physical therapy, my exoskeleton is being retired,” he wrote on Facebook. “The reason for the suspension is a pathetic excuse by a bad company to make more money.”
Straight's experience highlights the importance of Right to Repair laws, which require manufacturers to make repair parts, guides and tools readily available to the public.
The medical device industry, in particular, has been a vocal opponent of right-to-repair laws and has lobbied heavily against such measures. Manufacturers insist that medical device repairs should only be done in-house, citing patient safety concerns. However, this attitude has led to many absurd situations, such as hospitals' trained repair professionals being unable to repair medical devices due to manufacturer lockout codes or unavailability of repair parts.
This problem extends beyond medical devices, as thousands of products are left stranded every year due to manufacturers discontinuing support, leaving customers in the lurch. Right-to-repair advocates are calling for ways to improve equipment manufacturers have lost interest in, including by allowing 3D printing of parts, removing copyright restrictions on manuals and medical certificates, and posting firmware in public repositories. They argue that it is necessary to require manufacturers to provide support.
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship issues.
