Posts Tagged ‘ Warranty ’

Is Your Medical Device Under Warranty?

April 26th, 2010. By Hunter West

If you buy a car and it breaks down within the warranty period, the manufacturer fixes it. If your laptop goes wonky within the first year (usually under warranty), you ship it back and they’ll send you another one, or they undertake to fix it. 

That’s what warranties are for—to protect the consumer against substandard workmanship, faulty parts, or basically a lemon. Wear-and-tear is one thing. You can’t warrant against that. But when something fails well ahead of the best-before date, somebody is made to step up to the plate and extend some responsibility. 

Why does that not happen in the medical device industry? 

Back in January, William R. Morris had to have his artificial hip replaced after just three years. The replacement surgery cost about $50,000. Lucky for Morris, much of the bill was covered through his employer’s health insurance plan. But he figures, due to co-payments and other out-of-pocket expenses, he’s out about $10,000 for his initial replacement and two additional surgeries. 

That’s right—he’s had three replacements. The first operation in 2006 replaced the original hip his creator gave him. That one lasted less than a year—so the replacement was replaced. For a year, he told The New York Times, he felt good, but then THAT hip replacement went wonky. 

This year, he had another one. 

His first artificial hip lasted one year. His second, only three. 

They’re supposed to last 15. 

The April 3^rd edition of The New York Times reported that the manufacturer of the failed hip has Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Medical Device, Warranty
Posted in Defective Products, Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues | 3 Comments »