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Freedom Limits

Good essay on software for medical devices and the perils of that not being free. The reasoning makes sense in some situations but not all:

Free software in medical aids helps the patient, the environment, and the healthcare system. After all, the software in hearing aids, insulin pumps and pacemakers controls parts of our body. We should be allowed to control it. Software in medical aids has to respect our freedom! Free software can make the medical device last longer. The free software community can fix bugs and provide updates so that patients are not left at the mercy of the companies. Then, patients can choose to repair their device instead of throwing it away. Last but not least, long-time support can save the healthcare system and its patients lots of money

My aunt has been on a pacemaker for almost a decade now. Recently, she had to have a procedure to fix something inside that was broken and there was no non-invasive way to fix the problem. I am trying to imagine a scenario where the problem was software related and the device was out of warranty and some kind of upgrade had failed. If there were open-source fixes for the problem, I doubt the family would feel comfortable about using it. 

It is a huge judgement call for someone to make and if that decision impacts your mother's life for instance, chances are the person will err heavily on the side of caution. I would imagine, my cousin would do exactly what he done in the case of the equipment malfunction - go the most fool-proof route, replace the whole thing if the doctor told that would definitely resolve the issue. That same doctor would not be asked for his advice on the the open-source software solution to the problem. It is a difference between what can be seen and believed by the average person versus faith in something that cannot. 

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