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As consumer companies including Apple and Samsung begin to open their hardware products to independent repair, and lawmakers put pressure on on companies like John Deere to do the same, others are resisting the right-to-repair movement. A medical device company that makes a heart surgery machine recently told hospitals that it will no longer allow its in-house technicians to repair the devices themselves. Hospitals are now required to sign repair contracts directly with the manufacturer.
Terumo Cardiovascular makes the product, called the Advanced Perfusion System 1 Heart Lung Machine, which reroutes blood during open-heart surgeries to keep a patient alive during surgery. According to 404 AverageTerumo told hospitals last month it would stop offering certification classes to repair the devices.
The job of an independent repair technician was more common, there were individuals who could repair everything from TVs to dishwashers and automobiles. But today more hardware is full of chips and software, and companies like Apple have said that the software on their devices is intellectually copyrighted; allowing someone to look under the hood and carry out modifications could lead to safety or reliability risks.
Apple has begun to loosen its grip on repairs a bit, after years of criticism over the hypocrisy of committing to environmental sustainability while simultaneously preventing repairs that could extend device life. The company offers now official spare parts and repair tools for some devices with plans to expand this support in the future. Reports suggest that it is still complicated to repair an iPhone independentlybut it’s a start. Samsung also supports independent repair of its smartphones.
In many cases, however, devices today are more like services. Instead of buying a refrigerator or a smart thermostat once and being able to do with it everything the owner wanted, any kind of update or repair often requires returning to the company that sold it. Research suggests that it is a fundamental reason we have so much waste in the world today. TV won’t turn on? Either get it repaired under warranty or throw it away, because getting a new one can only be cheaper.
Turning hardware into essentially a service is inherently inflationary due to lock-in. If there was an open market for the repair of devices like Terumo, it is possible that hospitals could get a better price. Case in point: in a report, the Federal Trade Commission found that medical device manufacturers sometimes charge 2-3 times what an independent technician would pay. And US healthcare costs are already astronomically high as well.
To see how things could be, look no further than the cars of yesteryear. For a long time, independent body shops flourished. BMWs or Fords could be repaired by anyone with a wrench and some elbow work. But as cars become even more computerized, access to digital information is needed to diagnose and fix problems, such as a malfunctioning backup camera.
Lawmakers have recently complained that, like medical device companies, automobiles are making it difficult for independent repair companies to access software data and diagnostics under the same form that would risk security. And they do so in violation of right-to-repair laws passed in states including Massachusetts expressly to allow independent shops to access software diagnostics.
The damage of the lock-in is clear. There are few independent repair shops that can service Teslas – in addition to high prices, owners of those vehicles have complained of slow or poor service from the company’s official technicians. In the case of Terumo, what if it is too slow to respond when a critical device needs surgical repair?
Terumo argued that medical devices are sensitive and complex, and allowing anyone to fix risks to patient safety. He also said 404 that the company has seen a decrease in demand for participation in its training program. But if Apple can figure out how to make third-party repairs work, maybe Terumo can too. Hospital repair technicians are techniques after all—it should be able to do everything Terumo’s in-house technicians can.
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