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Source: theverge.com ·
A medical device manufacturer has threatened to sue a group of volunteers in Italy that 3D printed a valve used for life-saving coronavirus treatments. The 3D printed valves have saved 10 patients so far.
Pierre Rochard - @pierre_rochard
1 week ago
RT @RealSexyCyborg: Okay:
#1 Fuck this
#2 Fuck them
#3 Give me any life-saving CAD files you want released
#4 They can come sue me in China
#5 I will live-stream that shit in overalls, pigtails and big watery eyes from local court
https://t.co/hf0dhXkoLn
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Kevin Pham - @_Kevin_Pham
1 week ago
RT @neomarxists: "The valve typically costs about $11,000 from the medical device manufacturer, but the volunteers were able to print replicas for about $1" https://t.co/sOMbqCelDM
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33171
Tim Pastoor - @timpastoor
1 week ago
RT @RealSexyCyborg: Okay:
#1 Fuck this
#2 Fuck them
#3 Give me any life-saving CAD files you want released
#4 They can come sue me in China
#5 I will live-stream that shit in overalls, pigtails and big watery eyes from local court
https://t.co/hf0dhXkoLn
2911
8174
John Lilic - @JohnLilic
1 week ago
RT @sthenc: Print them out of business. https://t.co/EFlqLOWJaR
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KathleenB - @breitwoman
1 week ago
There are some moments that have the privilege of being clear moral tests. WWII comes to mind (hint: the bad guys had skulls on their hats), but also... https://t.co/NLtyLKB3AU
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Jeff Garzik - @jgarzik
1 week ago
RT @Robotbeat: You’re reminder that “Intellectual Property” is fake. https://t.co/XLTsZtc3bw
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Andrea O'Sullivan - @anjiecast
1 week ago
RT @verge: Medical company threatens to sue volunteers that 3D-printed valves for life-saving coronavirus treatments https://t.co/kp3o1UYBhs https://t.co/oH3pemNDLU
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imminentmisanthrope
1 week ago
Yeah, I posted that this was false on this sub on another post. They've obviously reposted it again.
1
curtman99
1 week ago
Does anyone actually read the article? Legal action was not threatened. The mfg. simply declined to release the designs.
1
MartianEarthling
1 week ago
Fuck your business. I hope this issue is brought to every major media outlet( although highly improbable as most are probably in bed with toxic businesses like these)
1
NotAnotha1
1 week ago
i work in medical manufacturing. while they can make it for cheap they need significant regulatory approval to sell to medical companies and testing and screening prior to bringing to market. Yes the company suing is scummy but honestly I don't want a faulty valve that didn't go through trials or validation supporting breathing for my elderly parents
1
walking_the_burbs
1 week ago
Even with RnD and associated costs to bring this to market....$11K is fucking ridiculous.
1
sneakywombat87
1 week ago
“Update, March 18th 5:30PM ET: A group of Italian volunteers distributed 3D-printed versions of a vital medical device — but it doesn’t appear that the original manufacturer threatened a legal crackdown. As we reported earlier,” - title needs updating
2
rehabdoll
1 week ago
"A group of Italian volunteers distributed 3D-printed versions of a vital medical device — but it doesn’t appear that the original manufacturer threatened a legal crackdown. "
1
iTiniTi
1 week ago
HE BETTER make a public statement he's not suicidal. I have a feeling that would get him before covid.
1
hubofwreck
1 week ago
This is the kind of shit wr as a society need to stand up against when all this shit is over. The reason we are in this situation is because people put bullshit money over people.
1
LX-357
1 week ago
It's false. Apparently the only interaction they had with the company was they could not release the design files so the pair had to reverse engineer it. No law suit or threats followed.
1
shwift
1 week ago
Dudes did anyone read the fucking article? It literally says the opposite of what the title says. They were not threatened...
5
comicsans_theman
1 week ago
This is where We the People need to act as their security and defense. We must unite. United we stand. We defend them, they produce the valves, doctors use the valves and It will save many peoples life’s.
1
phantomrsxaccord202
1 week ago
hmmm, if they are suing, then the 3d printed valve is working, if it is working everyone should do it they can't sue everyone
​
lives over money
1
mrrix32
DTNS Patron 1 week ago
Article had been updated, seems there was a misunderstanding
we have categorically not threatened to sue anyone involved.
2
aussiepowerranger
1 week ago
At some point we should rise up and just start murdering the lawyers.
1
HIVnotAdeathSentence
1 week ago
This is in Italy, a country with universal healthcare, and it seems they're still being ripped off, giving the the company a pass.
1
Andehh1
1 week ago
So many up votes, so few people who read the fucking article.
3 lines in.... Come in people!! Read before you blindly follow.
1
rAAZk
Centrista safado , Liberal , se curte? 1 week ago
puts , ai é foda mesmo
​
mas se eu fosse o governo desse pais , eu na canetada mesmo , tiraria a patente dessa empresa ai e tornaria publica , tipo oq o LULA fez com os remédios para aids.. pq porra . 11.000 (dolares eu acho) ai é sacanagem
​
por isso q o anarcocapitalismo nunca funcionaria , pq nego é muito egoista
1
1984stardusta
1 week ago
Não terá como garantir o egoísmo sem costas quentes com burocratas.
A tecnologia tornará impossível segurar esta troca de informações, distribuição de produtos e serviços.
1
jagger27 -
@jagger27
1 week ago
$11,000 for a plastic valve. Unreal. No wonder hospitals are always stretched to the limit when they're being gouged like this.
Think of it this way, a hospital could buy 10 valves or hire a physician for a year. Are these valves typically re-used? Are they going through them faster because they don't want to risk infecting other people?
ardy42 -
@ardy42
1 week ago
> A medical device manufacturer has threatened to sue a group of volunteers in Italy that 3D printed a valve used for life-saving coronavirus treatments. The valve typically costs about $11,000 from the medical device manufacturer, but the volunteers were able to print replicas for about $1 (via Techdirt).
What's the name of the manufacturer?
waiseristy -
@waiseristy
1 week ago
Where did this company "threaten" to sue? All I can find is the following source
"Now, despite the country battling an unprecedented health crisis, there is potential for a legal battle with local media reporting that the manufacturers of the valves are refusing to share their blue print for further production and could potentially sue for copyright breaches."
So they may have the option to sue?
hirundo -
@hirundo
1 week ago
> we are not going to spread the drawing.
This part seems less than optimally ethical. If it's a choice between helping other hospitals to save lives and to avoid additional legal liability, this seems like a good hill to go bankrupt on.
But...if someone slipped the file to me I wouldn't publish it either. So I can't fault them for being as faulty as me.
frollo -
@frollo
1 week ago
I'd like to see them try. To sell this kind of critical equipment to Italian hospitals you have to guarantee there will be no shortages even (especially) in critical conditions. They failed to uphold their part of the bargain with the country and at this moment both the government and the people are very short on patience. Probably, if they even try to sue the volunteers they are going to lose all their contracts with Italian hospitals in a matter of days.
landryraccoon -
@landryraccoon
1 week ago
This article feels like low quality clickbait to me. The company isn’t even named, and there’s no source given for the claim that a lawsuit was threatened.
bensonn -
@bensonn
1 week ago
This linked article actually names "the manufacturer" and the lawyers. Name and shame!
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200316/14584244111/softb...
virtualritz -
@virtualritz
1 week ago
Printcrime[1,2] by Doctorov becoming reality in one of the most nasty ways imaginable.
[1] https://craphound.com/overclocked/Cory_Doctorow_-_Overclocke....
[2] E-book download: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19000
Maarten88 -
@Maarten88
1 week ago
People are quibbling about money while millions of lives are at stake. We need tens of thousands of these medical devices and we need them fast. Like in the coming weeks.
If companies who suddenly find themselves in a strategic position don't get what they need to do, then the Government needs to take control using emergency powers, and use any available production capacity in the country to ramp up production, fast.
We'll also need to do many other things. We should adopt a wartime mentality, focus on solving the problems at hand, and stop wasting time. At least in Italy they get this now.
zozbot234 -
@zozbot234
1 week ago
This is adding nothing new over the previous BusinessInsider piece. It's just reporting (again) that this company asserted patent rights after the hospital and the 3D-printing firm requested the design in .STL format due to being unable to secure supplies in an unprecedented emergency. Which is what we knew already.
dredmorbius -
@dredmorbius
1 week ago
Circumstances such as this call for mandatory licensing or pooling of patents.
The system itself is broken and should be abolished, as has been long and well argued.
hatenberg -
@hatenberg
1 week ago
This crisis is really showing many ridiculous and completely unnecessary conditions in our systems and these will break down.
yellowapple -
@yellowapple
1 week ago
Right on the heels of SoftBank-owned Labrador Diagnostics LLC suing over COVID tests: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22598988
Which company is suing over the 3D-printed valves? We need to name and shame. If we're unwilling to call out monopolists putting profits over even human life, then we, too, are complicit.
On another note, I'm of the increasingly-strong belief that patent suits should be deemed automatically dismissed if the "infringement" is a response to either an inability or unwillingness of the patent holder to actually use that patent productively (i.e. produce something using that patent). In this case, if the original manufacturer is out of stock, 3D printing replacements should be fair game. Likewise, if we don't have enough testing kits, making and distributing more should be fair game.
oldandtired -
@oldandtired
1 week ago
Having seen the prices charged for drugs and how they then calculate future prices (after the R&D costs have been recovered), I have a very sceptical view of any comments that say we need to consider R&D and regulatory cost recovery before complaining about the prices being charged for anything in the medical technology field. Having also discussed what was seen by someone I know who left the corrupt world of advertising to go to the medical technology world, I also consider anybody saying the same about recovery of R&D and regulatory costs to either being a liar or deluded. The gentleman in question went back to the advertising world because they were innocent children compared to the corruption and price gouging that went on inside the medical technology industries.
There is a captive market here and the seller can sell at any price they want and make any markup they want because they can. There are some very honourable people and companies who do not price gouge in the field. But it seems that these are a very small minority.
Now mind you, this kind of price gouging occurs anywhere there is a captive market. But some industries are more susceptible to it than others.
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