From @pluralistic:

"Earlier this year, many people with Argus optical implants – which allow blind people to see – lost their vision when the manufacturer, Second Sight, went bust.

"Nano Precision Medical, the company's new owners, aren't interested in maintaining the implants, so that's the end of the road for everyone with one of Argus's 'bionic' eyes. The $150,000 per eye that those people paid is gone, and they have failing hardware permanently wired into their nervous systems.

"Having a bricked eye implant doesn't just rob you of your sight – many Argus users experience crippling vertigo and other side effects of nonfunctional implants. The company has promised to 'do our best to provide virtual support' to people whose Argus implants fail – but no more parts and no more patches."

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/12/unsafe-at-any-speed/#this-is-literally-your-brain-on-capitalism

Pluralistic: Orphaned neurological implants (12 Dec 2022) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

@Marmoset @pluralistic Education, healthcare, and corrections are fields that should never be held hostage to capitalism.
@saintgimp @Marmoset @pluralistic All these fields are open veins of profit for megaCorps. They will be hard-won away from those grasping clutches.
@saintgimp @Marmoset @pluralistic Yes, this was my takeaway too!
"This amazing device that can give sight and freedom back to people, just didn't turn out to be profitable".
Why on earth should it need to?!