@alyaza These blind people had to pay $150k for this shit and now it’s worthless? It does make a superb case for keeping medical tech out of the hands of for-profit corporations.
factoring in additional costs of surgery it’s actually substantially worse than just 150k, although a lot of it was covered by insurance for the typical getter:
Moreover, implanting the Argus II was just the start of a long, tough journey for patients. Second Sight employed its own vision-rehabilitation specialists to work one-on-one with implantees, often for months or years. One Argus II patient estimated that the total cost of the device, surgery, and rehabilitation was $497,000. Typically, at least 80 percent of the device fee and most of the other costs were covered by insurance.
even so, that’s still a life-ruining amount for some people, especially if the device stops working because the company no longer really exists in the form it did when you got the implant
Not to mention the cost to get it removed if that’s ever needed.
oh in some cases the possible consequences straight up outweigh benefits, so people will just leave them in and are stuck with them permanently:
Barbara Campbell, who received her implant during the clinical trial of the Argus II, did find the bionic vision system useful. As a New York City resident, she used it outside on the busy sidewalks and while taking a subway or bus. “The more I used it, the benefits increased,” she remembers. “I think I was retraining my brain to see stuff.” But in 2013, after four years of regular use, Campbell’s system shut down in the subway station, and despite some repair attempts by Second Sight, never worked again. While she talked with her doctors about having the implant removed, she ultimately decided that the risks of another surgery weren’t worth it. She still has the defunct technology in her left eye.
@alyaza These blind people had to pay $150k for this shit and now it’s worthless? It does make a superb case for keeping medical tech out of the hands of for-profit corporations.
factoring in additional costs of surgery it’s actually substantially worse than just 150k, although a lot of it was covered by insurance for the typical getter:
even so, that’s still a life-ruining amount for some people, especially if the device stops working because the company no longer really exists in the form it did when you got the implant
@alyaza Not to mention the cost to get it removed if that’s ever needed. Just an all around awful situation for these individuals.
oh in some cases the possible consequences straight up outweigh benefits, so people will just leave them in and are stuck with them permanently: