Patient Just Wants To See Data From His Implanted Medical Device

An anonymous reader writes "Hugo Campos got an implanted cardiac defibrillator shortly after collapsing on a BART train platform. He wants access to the data wirelessly collected by the computer implanted in his body, but the manufacturer says No. It seems weird that a patient can't get access to data about his own heart. Hugo and several medical device engineers are responding to live Q/A on Sunday night on such topics via ACM MedCOMM webcast at ACM SIGCOMM."

Comments

Is it worth it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not to sound against it, but
a) Would he understand what the data meant?
b) Maybe the software and what not is proprietary?

Just some thoughts that come to mind

Re:Is it worth it?

[ceoyoyo]

The manufacturers take the fairly sensible approach of not giving the raw data directly to the patients. On his blog one of the reasons he says the manufacturers give is that patients with raw data would be worried by things they don't understand and constantly wanting to see their doctor for reassurance. He dismisses that objection out of hand.

Patients (and non-patients) DO this all the time. Med students are famous for diagnosing themselves with all sorts of problems. The tech who gives you an x-ray, CT or MRI scan won't give you the images either. You can request them from your doctor, and he will (or may have to) give them to you, but he'll probably want to sit down and go through them with you first.

Patients do try to interpret their own data, usually pessimistically. And besides the stress it causes them and the wasted time it causes their doctors, there was a Slashdot story just the other day about how believing there's something wrong can produce real, potentially dangerous physical effects.

If this guy really wants his data he can go to his doctor and ask for it. There are several very good reasons why he shouldn't have a raw feed from the device manufacturer.