Medical Technology addresses efforts by some manufacturers to force obsolesce into their medical devices — attempts to thwart reprocessing and drive up sales:
A huge number of medical devices used by hospitals are labelled as ‘single-use’. As a cost-saving measure many hospitals rely upon ‘reprocessed’ single-use devices as a cheap yet safe alternative to buying expensive new equipment, but recent manufacturer efforts to halt reprocessing could lead to hiked hospital costs. Elliot Gardner finds out more…
…But how can the problem be solved? According to Thording, rather than policymakers or manufacturers, the power lies with the hospitals themselves. “Hospitals are really in a position to make the biggest difference. When manufacturers push expensive devices to the hospitals, they have the ability to stand up and say ‘no’.
“By refusing to purchase new products with few technical or clinical advancements and which are designed to prohibit reprocessing, hospitals can support this practice, thus reducing costs significantly.”