A few days ago a hospital in northern Italy was running out of respiratory valves for ICU patients. They contacted the manufacturer immediately and was told they wouldn’t get any at a reasonable time frame.
Panic.
Scramble.
The hospital even contacted a local newspaper. The local newspaper that had in the past made some articles about innovation contacted an engineer that owns a pharmaceutical company. This engineer was quick smart in reacting, having one of the machines himself he took it to the hospital, saw what was needed and contacted the manufacturer to get the blueprint for the valve. They refused.
He redesigned it, printed 3d and it worked. Saved at least 10 lives.
The manufacturer is threatening to sue.
The 3d part costs about one euro to make(1.50$). The manufacturers piece costs 10thousand euros.
I haven’t been able to find out the name of the manufacturer, only that it’s based in Luxembourg.
This disgusting story brings me back to the right to repair issues we are facing in a lot of different industries, mostly technology.
Is right to repair something you care about?
Is “intellectual property” used to mask and hide small things that could make it easier and cheaper for consumers to repair?( A simple valve, a phone screen, usb socket, etc)
Is “waste mentality” a factor in this? Are we too accustomed to just throwing things away instead of repairing?