By Kevin O’Reilly
The last thing any of us wants to do is relive the early days of the pandemic. But, in this case, I’m asking you to – so I can give you an idea who I am and what you can expect from this monthly column on medical Right to Repair.
Those early days of lockdown remain surprisingly clear in my mind. My days were likely very different from yours; I was lucky enough to be working from home rather than being in the hospitals that were the epicenter of the pandemic. But the uncertainty – about what the virus was, what it meant, how to keep myself and my family safe – and the corresponding scramble to adapt was something all of us felt to varying degrees.
As a nonprofit, public-interest advocacy organization, we at the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) were scrambling to understand how we, as campaigners, could support initiatives that would protect American lives. We pushed to get more PPE to health care workers. We called for comprehensive COVID testing and adequate funding to fight the pandemic. We worked to protect consumers from rampant price gouging on safety products such as hand sanitizer.
When we heard that biomeds were struggling to fix critical equipment, we also urged ventilator manufacturers to release ventilator repair information. And we were successful: device-makers including GE Healthcare, Medtronic and Fisher & Paykal responded to our 43,000 petition signatures by releasing technical manuals and eliminating in-person training requirements to access repair materials.
That public call was launched by my colleague Nathan Proctor, senior director of PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign, and me. For years, PIRG has been a leader in the call for manufacturers of everything from tablets to tractors to dialysis machines to provide independent fixers with all the materials they need to fix their devices. Prior to the pandemic, much of our progress centered around consumer devices and agricultural equipment.
But in the spring of 2020, we read of hospital beds filling up as ventilators and other critical medical devices were pushed into around-the-clock use. And we knew we had to do what we could to support the front-line workers maintaining this life-saving equipment.
My first task was to get the facts of the situation from you, the biomeds, clinical engineers and healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals maintaining and fixing this equipment. Would fair repair access help make your work easier?
The answer to that question was a resounding “yes.”
I distributed a letter calling for service materials to be made available immediately to a few of the first biomeds I connected with. Within a matter of weeks, more than 500 of you had signed on.
We then conducted a survey to show the severity of the problem. Thirty percent of respondents had equipment that could not be used due to restrictions on spare parts and service information. More than nine in 10 said that they had been denied service information for critical equipment such as defibrillators, ventilators, anesthesia machines and imaging machines. And nearly half had been denied access to critical repair information, parts or service keys in those initial months of the pandemic.
Prior to this, I understood that the same repair restrictions that existed for smartphones and tractors existed for medical equipment – it had been an important part of PIRGs Right to Repair campaign. But those initial conversations with biomeds from across the country have instilled in me a new urgency with which I approach this part of the problem.
Of course, it is not a problem that suddenly appeared with COVID-19, nor is it one that will disappear as the pandemic wanes. But it did help bring the issue into the public consciousness. And I’m proud of the role that I – along with my colleagues at PIRG and so many brave biomeds including Leticia Reynolds, Nader Hammoud, Ilir Kulloli, James Helton, Barbara Maguire and Paul Kelley, to name a scarce few – have played to elevate its profile.
Awareness alone won’t solve the problem. We need to codify Right to Repair legislation, which will guarantee hospital and ISO HTMs (not to mention OEMs that function as ISOs by fixing other brands of equipment) access to necessary parts, manuals and service keys, on fair and reasonable terms, into law. That’s why we pushed to pass federal legislation such as Sen. Ron Wyden (OR) and Rep. Yvette Clarke’s (NY) Critical Medical Infrastructure Right-to-Repair Act, as well as state measures such as the California Medical Device Right to Repair Act, introduced by Sen. Susan Eggman (Stockton).
None of these bills have passed all the way through the legislative process. None have been signed by a governor or President Joe Biden (who happens to be a Right to Repair advocate). But we have made progress, passing through legislative committees and even the Arkansas Senate.
What is the biggest takeaway from those steps in the right direction?
It’s this: If we are going to be successful, it’s going to be because of the advocacy of biomeds, HTMs and clinical engineers like yourself. You are the subject matter experts, the ones witnessing the ways that repair restrictions risk patient safety and drive up the cost of health care. In short, you’re our not-so-secret weapon.
Every month, I’ll be sharing updates on the Right to Repair movement and opportunities for you to get involved. Signing our letter (tinyurl.com/3rma9dpj) is a good place to start.
I can’t wait to work with you to drive this campaign across the finish line. Let’s get to it.
Kevin O’Reilly is PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign director. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
