
Medtronics killed the low cost ventilator - zoobab
https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/30/medtronic-stole-your-ventilator/#market-oxygen
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mips_avatar
Nytimes daily podcast covered this today.
[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/podcasts/the-
daily/corona...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/podcasts/the-
daily/coronavirus-medical-supplies-shortages.html)

Super frustrating how the interests of the healthcare industry aren't aligned
with national health.

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mgms3535
There are clear arguments that Bell was managed like a national utility and
they ended up allowing all use of their massive parent portfolio for free

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Isamu
> The problem is that monopolies aren't just bad because they raise prices,
> they're bad because they are monopolies.

The specific harms raised are valid, but I get tired of this generalization.
The Bell System was an example of a well regulated monopoly.

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georgeecollins
Some monopolies are necessary, like utilities. But they need to be regulated.

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doggodad
It's "Medtronic," not "Medtronics."

Also, the AARC recommended in 2006 and 2008 that HHS add 10k+ ventilators to
the SNS, but they didn't. The SNS ventilators that were stored were mostly
unmaintained and unusable thanks to the lack of maintenance funding.

[https://www.aarc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/issue-
paper-...](https://www.aarc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/issue-paper-
acquisition-of-ventilators-2008.pdf)

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Spooky23
No, conservative economic and legal policy combined with judicial activism
killed antitrust and other regulation, which enables bad market behavior.

