
Abbott Labs uses copyright law to shut down open diabetes monitoring software - anigbrowl
https://boingboing.net/2019/12/12/they-literally-own-you.html
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jmb12686
My wife (33 years old) was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes last month. A
healthy, under 120 lbs 5 foot 4 woman, who busts her ass for our young
children, now has to learn how to keep her blood sugar in check with 4 shots
and 6+ finger stick tests per day. Worst of all, accidentally taking too much
insulin, or not accounting for unknown variables such as stress, illness,
exact carb count of meals, snacks, and exercise, can and will kill you
quickly.

I'm disgusted with the current technological advances (aka lack of them) in
the diabetes space. The limited tech out there to support an "artificial
pancreas" was initiated by a community of hackers [1], and is only supported
by a handful of outdated insulin pumps. The manufacturer (medcom) has since
"fixed" the vulnerability that allowed outside control inputs. There are a
couple decent continuous glucose monitors out now, one by Abbot la s, another
by Dexcom, but this only solves half the equation. A true closed loop system
feeds continuous glucose monitor readings straight into an insulin pump to
administer, algorithmically, microdoses of insulin. This completely eliminates
the risk of hypoglycemia and effectively forms an artificial pancreas.

The only reason I fear this kind of tech isn't readily available for all type
1 diabetics is sadly, what's the profit motive to big pharma? They are making
a _killing_ off of crap solutions currently available. Trust me, you'd think
decades old insulin and glucose meter supplies are affordable by now. These
low tech items cost 1000s a month (insurance paid portion).

1) [https://openaps.org/](https://openaps.org/)

~~~
ericmason
Check out Loop
[https://loopkit.github.io/loopdocs/](https://loopkit.github.io/loopdocs/)
it’s an iPhone app and works with Omnipod in addition to the old Medtronic
pumps. My wife uses it and it’s a game changer.

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deogeo
Impeding medical progress so that they may profit. And the expensive legal
firm _knows_ the complaint is without merit. They are knowingly lying about
the law, to make their client money, and make life harder for sick people.

None of the people involved should get to hide behind the corporate facade.
Abbott Labs' CEO is Miles White:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_D._White](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_D._White)

It's unclear who the head of the law firm is, but they have offices in a few
major cities:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkland_%26_Ellis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkland_%26_Ellis)

~~~
anigbrowl
LAw firms typically don't have executives and shareholders like a regular
corporation, but are structured as partnerships.

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distantaidenn
I was able to test the Freestyle Libre device for a couple of months for a
friend's research. While I don't have diabetes, it was very enlightening to
have constant access to my body's glucose (and indirectly glycogen) levels. I
had a near-real-time data stream.

I have practiced intermittent for over a decade, using an 18/6 split. It was
so amazing to see my glucose nose dive around midday, then rise and stabilize
after about an hour. I assume this was my body switching its energy source
from depleted glycogen stores in the liver to lipid (fat) gluconeogenesis.

I know this isn't what the device was designed for, but this would be a
complete game-changer for bespoke diet/well-being plans. After a bit of trial
and error, you'd know exactly when and what to eat.

After the research ended, I honestly felt like I had lost a sense. My body was
running in blind mode again. I would have continued using the device, but at
retail, each sensor is around $70 USD.

I hope for a future in which wearables and wireless body monitoring devices
become the norm, rather than the exception. There is so much data to be
gathered.

Sucks that Abbot has killed this OSS project.

~~~
Kaiyou
Why does the sensor not last forever, but only two weeks?

~~~
distantaidenn
It's an over the counter device with a subdermal needle. The device needs a
blood sample, so it gets fouled by our organic bits. I imagine risk of
infection is a large part of the short life span of the product.

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Arbalest
Seems similar to tactics used by patent trolls. Basically showering you will
bullshit you have to defend in court knowing it is bogus and relying on you
not being able to fight it. The twist is that they're using Copyright rather
than Patent law. I wonder if this is how they're trying to get away from the
increased scrutiny of patent abuse.

~~~
bigmit37
How they shutting it done if it’s open source. Is there anything that can be
done?

~~~
floatingatoll
The repository owner can file DMCA counterclaim; once they have done so,
GitHub will reenable the repository after 2 weeks unless legal action is
initiated (not just filing a DMCA).

[https://help.github.com/en/github/site-policy/guide-to-
submi...](https://help.github.com/en/github/site-policy/guide-to-submitting-a-
dmca-counter-notice)

I especially liked this:

> _We won 't refuse to process an otherwise complete counter notice if you
> don't include this statement; however, we will know that you haven't read
> these guidelines and may ask you to go back and do so._

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toomuchtodo
Time for the SciHub of Git repos?

