Since the whole world is big on recycling, it makes perfect sense then, to explore every possible avenue of reducing wastage – and this might just include the recycling of medical equipment from the dead. I’m talking about reusing pacemakers from the deceased in the US, where such pacemakers will be donated to the poor in Mumbai who have no possible way of ever owning a pacemaker on their own. This is being explored by a team of researchers from the US and India, considering how the FDA specifically halts reuse of implantable devices, although India does not have any issue with that. An initial study that involved 53 patients and two years following implantation, these devices continued to work just fine without running into any notable complications. In fact, the procedures also did not result in any infections due to the transplant, with four of the patients being healthy enough to get back to work. What do you think of the recycling of pacemakers? Are you open to that idea?
Filed in ..