Italian hospital saves Covid-19 patients lives by 3D printing valves for reanimation devices

[FlyingPenguin]

The supply chain was broken, people and 3D printing rose to the occasion

https://www.3dprintingmedia.network/cov ... on-device/

[FlyingPenguin]

And of course...

Would you believe these little, plastic valves that the 3D printer guys say cost them $1 each to make, are $11K from the manufacturer? WTF?

Medical company threatens to sue volunteers that 3D-printed valves for life-saving coronavirus treatments

https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/17/2118 ... treatments

[normalicy]

For that much, I'd risk being sued too.

[Err]

From the article, I couldn't understand where exactly the valve is used. For any medical device that touches a patient, it needs to be sterilized. You also have to perform further testing to show the device meets all specifications. In addition you have to pay for the initial research and design. Even with all of that, there's no reason they cost $10K. There's always a giant mark-up on parts because they can. When there is a pandemic, these stupid patent laws need to be suspended. You'd think that a company having supply chain issues would welcome help rather than threatening to sue. They could have had said, "if you can print and send us a few to evaluate, we'll bring you on as a supplier."