Doctors removed brain implant against the will of the user.

[Afro]

A woman whose epilepsy was greatly improved by an experimental brain implant was devastated when, just two years after getting it, she was forced to have it removed due to the company that made it going bankrupt.

As the MIT Technology Review reports, an Australian woman named Rita Leggett who received an experimental seizure-tracking brain-computer interface (BCI) implant from the now-defunct company Neuravista in 2010 has become a stark example not only of the ways neurotech can help people, but also of the trauma of losing access to them when experiments end or companies go under.

Leggett was, as a recent paper in the journal Brain Stimulation about her situation explains, 49 when she was recruited for the trial, though she'd suffered from epilepsy since she was just three years old. While other participants reported varying degrees of success with the implant, her own results were above and beyond.

Before implantation, Leggett had trouble doing everyday activities out of fear of seizures. But after it, she felt she could, as she told researchers, "do anything," and was able to participate in a lot of the regular stuff many of us take for granted, such as driving a car and seeing friends.
All of that changed, however, just a few short years later when Neuravista ran out of money and trial subjects like Leggett were told to get their implants removed.

She and her husband attempted to fight the demand, attempting to buy the implant outright and, as University of Tasmania ethicist and paper coauthor Frederic Gilbert told the Tech Review, remortgaging their house to do so. They were unsuccessful, and she was the last person to get the Neuravista BCI removed.

In fact, it calls to mind a similar incident last year in which the manufacturer of a bionic eye decided the units were obsolete, leading patients who'd had them implanted to lose their vision again.

 

[ScottyG]

In fact, it calls to mind a similar incident last year in which the manufacturer of a bionic eye decided the units were obsolete, leading patients who'd had them implanted to lose their vision again.


Astagfurillah

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Tough luck when Capitalism rules above everything. This era of human civilization is held back from true greatness by the greed. If it's not about profit it doesn't matter. We could have oriented the world in ways where our sophistication is used to truly liberate our lives but instead we are stuck using our potential only for greed.

I believe that at the crux of the issue is the fact that we might be in one of the most tech sophisticated eras of humanity but on a spiritual level one of the most regressive eras of man. That combination is Terrible and it leads to situations like this where break through ingenuity is tied behind the politics of business. Where people can only have better lives if they can afford it despite us being able to facilitate it. Our priorities are fukked

 

[doublejump]

Click baity . If there is no one to monitor the tech then it's an issue medically.
Also not sure about the Aussie legal system but what stopped her from simply not showing up to surgery?

 

[Afro]

In fact, it calls to mind a similar incident last year in which the manufacturer of a bionic eye decided the units were obsolete, leading patients who'd had them implanted to lose their vision again.


Astagfurillah

Man, like, I'm at work so I couldn't react like I wanted but.
What in the actual fukk.

 

[Afro]

Click baity . If there is no one to monitor the tech then it's an issue medically.
Also not sure about the Aussie legal system but what stopped her from simply not showing up to surgery?

Clickbait?

It was against her will. It was considered company property so if she didn't it would have been stealing.

Even if the company went belly up, it was still proprietary equipment.

 

[SupaHotIce]

How do they do that against your will?

 

[SupaHotIce]

Pinkertons.

Y’all ain’t know that they exist?

There is whole industry of private police forces that work on behalf of corporations across the US and globally.

They have full powers and authority with all “law enforcement” agencies.

I've seen comments about them here and there. Think I read somewhere that the government cut ties with them so I didn't think they had that type of authority.

 

[Cal Cutta]

This could be argued as a basic failure of the Hippocratic Oath. Should be, in fact.

 

[bnew]

she should have fled the country.

 

[bnew]

In fact, it calls to mind a similar incident last year in which the manufacturer of a bionic eye decided the units were obsolete, leading patients who'd had them implanted to lose their vision again.


Astagfurillah

Bionic eyes: Obsolete tech leaves patients in the dark

The retinal-implant manufacturer has shifted its focus, leaving users with little or no support.

www.bbc.com

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

"implant from the now-defunct company"

 

[Sterling Archer]

if the implants requires the company to work and the company goes under then the implant wouldnt work anyway right? So leaving it in despite it not working or being monitored could cause potential health issues and open them up for litigation. This is my assumption on why this had to happen. Theres also the matter of patents since it was experimental. i dunno...

 

[Complexion]

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Pinkertons.

Y’all ain’t know that they exist?

There is whole industry of private police forces that work on behalf of corporations across the US and globally.

They have full powers and authority with all “law enforcement” agencies.

Pinkertons? Her situation is life or death. She goofy for giving up that chip. I'll live poor and healthy over sick with money.