‘We need to find and put them behind bars for what they did. They need to pay for what they did,’ Enrique Tarrio exclaimed on Tuesday night, referencing those who investigated the January 6 Capitol attack.

‘He’s well beyond his years in terms of experience, knowledge, history. He’s just very fascinating to talk to,’ a custom suitmaker said of the 18-year-old

The manufacturer of a machine that costs six figures used during heart surgery has told hospitals that it will no longer allow hospitals’ repair technicians to maintain or fix the devices and that all repairs must now be done by the manufacturer itself, according to a letter obtained by 404 Media. The change will require hospitals to enter into repair contracts with the manufacturer, which will ultimately drive up medical costs, a person familiar with the devices said. 

The company, Terumo Cardiovascular, makes a device called the Advanced Perfusion System 1 Heart Lung Machine, which is used to reroute blood during open-heart surgeries and essentially keeps a patient alive during the surgery. Last month, the company sent hospitals a letter alerting them to the “discontinuation of certification classes,” meaning it “will no longer offer certification classes for the repair and/or preventative maintenance of the System 1 and its components.” 

This means it will no longer teach hospital repair techs how to maintain and fix the devices, and will no longer certify in-house hospital repair technicians. Instead, the company “will continue to provide direct servicing for the System 1 and its components.” 

On the surface, this may sound like a reasonable change, but it is one that is emblematic of a larger trend in hospitals. Medical device manufacturers are increasingly trying to prevent hospitals' own in-house staff from maintaining and repairing broken equipment, even when they are entirely qualified to do so. And in some cases, technicians who know how to repair specific devices are being prevented from doing so because manufacturers are revoking certifications or refusing to provide ongoing training that they once offered. Terumo certifications usually last for two years. It told hospitals that “your current certification will remain valid through its expiration date but will not be renewed once it expires.”

Hospitals are increasingly being pushed into signing maintenance contracts directly with the manufacturers of medical equipment, which means that repair technicians employed by hospitals can no longer work on many devices and hospitals end up having to employ both their own repair techs and keep up maintenance contracts with device manufacturers. 

“One of my fears is that if a device goes down, we’re going to be subject to their field engineers’ availability,” a source who works in hospital medical device repair told 404 Media. 404 Media agreed to keep the source anonymous because they were not authorized by their hospital to speak to the media. “They may not be able to get here that same day or the next day, and if you’ve got people waiting to get an open-heart surgery, you have to tell them ‘Oh, the machine’s down, we’re going to have to postpone this.’ That’s detrimental to a patient who has a life-altering, very serious thing that they’re having to cancel and reschedule.” 

Having to rely on a manufacturer’s repair network is the exact situation that farmers have found themselves in with John Deere tractors. Last week, the Federal Trade Commission sued John Deere for its monopolistic repair practices. The FTC specifically cited the fact that farmers have often been forced to wait days or weeks to get a John Deere “authorized” repair tech out to fix their tractors, which has resulted in farmers losing crops at critical harvest times. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, some hospitals found themselves pirating repair software from Poland to repair broken ventilators because manufacturers’ repair technicians were spread so thin that hospitals had to wait weeks for repairs. 

This specific ventilator repair crisis during COVID led experts at Harvard Medical School to write that “For years, manufacturers have curtailed the ability of hospitals to independently repair and maintain medical equipment by preventing access to the necessary knowledge, software, tools, and parts” in a piece calling for right-to-repair legislation. The FTC, meanwhile, suggested in a report that medical device manufacturers sometimes charge two-to-three times what an independent repair tech would charge for the same repair. 

“It's scary to think that you could buy a piece of medical equipment for your hospital, just to have the manufacturer wake up one day and decide they will monopolize all repairs for that product,” Nathan Proctor, senior director of consumer rights group PIRG’s campaign for the right to repair, told 404 Media. “The people who are trained to fix that equipment won't suddenly forget all they know, but they will suddenly be restricted from doing the repairs. I think that's just absurd.”

Manufacturer contracts like this lead, across the board, to higher costs for hospitals. 

“It’s no secret that America’s healthcare system is the most expensive, and this is one of the reasons why. These machines are actually highly reliable, we’ve had a low cost of service for it over the last few years. And when something isn’t right, we have people in-house who can fix it,” the source familiar with Terumo machine repair said. “But the cost of having a service contract with a manufacturer, you’re probably talking 10 times the cost. It’s not a big deal having a contract for one device, but when that starts happening across many devices, it adds up in the end. If you took every hospital in America and said for every medical device in the hospital, you need to put it on an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] maintenance contract, it would tank your financial system. You just can’t do that.”

Medical equipment manufacturers have strongly lobbied against right to repair legislation all over the country, and have been successful in getting medical devices exempted from right to repair legislation by claiming that the machines are too sensitive and complex to be repaired by anyone besides the manufacturer. The medical device giant AdvaMed, for example, says “the risk to patient safety is too high.” 

But, again, the people working on medical equipment in hospitals are often hospital employees or contractors whose job is to repair medical equipment, and who are being prevented from fixing equipment that a hospital has purchased. “Just because a guy has Terumo on his shirt doesn’t mean he’s a more competent technician” than an in-house hospital technician, the source familiar with Terumo device repair said.

In a brochure for hospitals, Terumo advertises both its device and its maintenance program: “Advanced, precision medical equipment requires genuine parts and top-quality, specialized service – just as getting the best medical care from qualified specialists. Terumo Cardiovascular Service has the unrivaled expertise, experience, equipment, and parts to provide the optimal level of planned service and repairs needed. Use Terumo Cardiovascular Service and avoid exposure to liability issues.” 

A spokesperson for Terumo told 404 Media that the company “saw declining participation in this program and determined that the best way forward was to require servicing through Terumo Cardiovascular’s genuine in-house Service team to continue to ensure Terumo devices are properly maintained.”

“Terumo Cardiovascular’s Biomed Certification Program was originally structured to train non-Terumo personnel (hospital Biomeds) to service Terumo heart-lung machines and associated hardware. Properly maintained medical devices are necessary for optimal performance which is essential for quality of patient care and outcomes,” they added. “Hospitals’ existing Terumo Cardiovascular Biomed certifications will remain valid through their expiration dates but will not be renewed once they expire.”

On Tuesday, OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX announced plans to form Stargate, a new company that will invest $500 billion in AI computing infrastructure across the United States over four years. The announcement came during a White House meeting with President Donald Trump, who called it the "largest AI infrastructure project in history."

The goal is to kickstart building more data centers to expand computing capacity for current and future AI projects, including OpenAI's goal of "AGI," which the company defines as a highly autonomous AI system that "outperforms humans at most economically valuable work."

"This infrastructure will secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefit for the entire world," wrote OpenAI in a press statement. "This project will not only support the re-industrialization of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies."

Read full article

Comments

We’re only three weeks into 2025, and it’s already shaping up to be the year of Internet of Things-driven DDoSes. Reports are rolling in of threat actors infecting thousands of home and office routers, web cameras, and other Internet-connected devices.

Here is a sampling of research released since the first of the year.

Lax security, ample bandwidth

A post on Tuesday from content-delivery network Cloudflare reported on a recent distributed denial-of-service attack that delivered 5.6 terabits per second of junk traffic—a new record for the largest DDoS ever reported. The deluge, directed at an unnamed Cloudflare customer, came from 13,000 IoT devices infected by a variant of Mirai, a potent piece of malware with a long history of delivering massive DDoSes of once-unimaginable sizes.

Read full article

Comments

U.S. government contractor Conduent, which provides technology to support services such as child support and food assistance, has confirmed that a recent outage was caused by a cybersecurity incident.  Conduent confirmed the disruption, which left some U.S. residents without access to support payments, to TechCrunch on Tuesday but declined to say whether the outage was […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Demand for generative AI help drive consumer spending on apps to $150 billion globally in 2024, up 13% from the prior year. According to an annual “State of Mobile” report from app intelligence provider Sensor Tower (which acquired Data.ai, the original report’s author, last March), AI apps saw a surge of interest over the past […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Music AI, the AI startup behind the widely acclaimed Moises app, has raised $40 million in a Series A funding round led by Connect Ventures—a partnership between Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and NEA—and Brazilian investment giant, monashees. Additional backers include […]

The post Music AI, creator of Moises, raises $40M Series A to revolutionize ethical AI in audio and music first appeared on Tech Startups.

• The Infiniti QX80 is a full-size luxury SUV that competes with the Lexus LX and Cadillac Escalade.
• I recently drove a 2025 QX80 in the lower-mid-tier Luxe trim.
• I was impressed by the SUV's eye-catching looks, luxurious high-tech cabin, and quiet ride.

The third-generation Infiniti QX80 got some much-needed updates in 2024 to help it remain competitive against industry heavyweights like the Cadillac Escalade, Lincoln Navigator, and Lexus LX.

I recently reviewed a four-wheel-drive QX80 SUV with an as-tested price of $99,195. I was impressed by the QX's eye-catching looks, luxurious, high-tech cabin, and smooth ride.

The base rear-wheel-drive QX80 starts at $82,450, while the top-spec 4WD variant starts at $110,595. My lower-mid-tier four-wheel-drive Luxe trim test car starts at $92,650.

Here are 18 features that show why the QX80 is a stylish Japanese alternative to the Escalade.

Luxurious cabin

The QX80's cabin is luxurious, roomy, and loaded with tech. The new interior is a big step forward compared to the outgoing model.

I was impressed by Infiniti's excellent mix of materials in the cabin and the quality of the fit and finish. The dual 14.3-inch screen atop the front dash looked great. Unfortunately, the 9-inch touch control screen is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it's a tidy way to organize a maze of controls, but it's far less intuitive to use than physical buttons would be.

Apart from that, interior ergonomics are solid, there's plenty of storage, and the 64-color configurable ambient lighting looks great.

Eye-catching looks

The design of the new QX80 is bold enough to hold your attention but doesn't veer into the garish. It features the latest interpretation of Infiniti's Artistry in Motion design language, highlighted by a large double-arch front grille inspired by bamboo forests.

Twin-turbo power

Under the hood is a 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 that produces 450 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. It replaces the previous generation's naturally aspirated V8. The VR series V6 is velvety smooth and feels eager to deliver its power.

My QX80 Luxe test car boasts EPA fuel economy ratings of 16 mpg city, 19 mpg highway, and 17 mpg combined.

Air suspension

My test car came with an electronic air suspension system. The suspension can be lowered by 1.2 inches to improve aerodynamics while driving and 2.8 inches for easier ingress and egress. In off-road mode, it can be raised 2.1 inches over its normal ride height to help clear obstacles.

Digital driver's cockpit

In front of the driver is a 14.3 digital instrument display and a heated leather-wrapped steering wheel. The high-quality configurable gauge display is augmented by an optional head-up display.

New infotainment system

The QX80's 14.3-inch touchscreen is equipped with Nissan/Infiniti's latest InTouch infotainment system, which is elegantly designed and easy to navigate. The system features built-in Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also standard.

Comfortable driver's seat

The Infiniti's tan leather-upholstered seats were soft, supportive, and offered great adjustability. However, the heated and ventilated driver's seat in my test car did not have the optional massage function, although the passenger seat did.

Luxurious second row

QX80s also come standard with the second-row captain's chairs. The QX80's second-row seats are heated, power-operated, and come with a solid 39-inch legroom.

Second-row passengers also have access to their own climate controls and a handful of USB sockets. The top tier Autograph trim comes with massaging seats.

Spacious third row

Third-row passengers have a generous 32.9-inch legroom, roughly the same amount of space you get in coach on a plane. The 60/40 split third-row bench comfortably accommodates two adults, but things get tight if you try to squeeze three people back there.

Panoramic Moonroof

All QX80s come with a panoramic glass moonroof.

Expansive cargo room.

Open the liftgate, and you'll find a stout 22.3 cubic feet of cargo space. With the third row folded, cargo space expands to 59 cubic feet. Fold down the second row, and you'll get a cavernous 101 cubic feet of room.

There's a small underfloor storage area behind the third row.

Remote start

All QX80s come with remote engine start, which is activated by pressing the "curved arrow" on its key fob.

Klipsch premium audio

My QX80 Luxe test car came with a sweet-sounding, 14-speaker, 600-watt Klipsch audio system. Higher-tier Sensory and Autograph models get an even more powerful, 1,200-watt, 24-speaker Klipsch premium audio system. Autograph models even get stylish metal-trimmed speakers built into their front headrests.

Invisible hood view

The QX80's camera system includes a new invisible hood view that allows the driver to see what is immediately in front of and underneath the front of the vehicle. This feature is great for squeezing into tight parking spots or even when off-roading.

Around view monitor

The QX80 comes standard with a 3D Around View Monitor system, which is handy for maneuvering in tight spaces. It also has a new three-dimensional spin feature that lets you see the vehicle's surroundings from eight pre-selected angles.

Towing

The QX80 is rated to tow up to an impressive 8,500 lbs with an integrated class IV tow-hitch and seven-pin wiring harness.

The SUV also comes with a special drive mode geared for towing, while its rearview camera and blind spot warning are designed to assist with hitching up a trailer and ensure safe driving while trailering.

Easy cargo loading

Infiniti's flagship SUV comes standard with its smart handsfree liftgate that activates by kicking your leg under the rear bump. Once the liftgate is open, you can lower the height of the vehicle by 2.8 inches to make loading cargo easier.

Safety tech

The QX80 comes standard with adaptive cruise control and lane-centering technology. You can upgrade to ProPilot Assist 2.1, which allows drivers to take their hands off the steering in certain highway driving conditions.