AB's Recall - Personal Thoughts for those who care to know them

[Guest guest]

Hi All !

Here are my random thoughts on the recall by AB that was announced

yesterday:

1. AB is being proactive with this voluntary recall. It does NOT

apply to any implanted devices.

2. Once again, it seems the ones who are most in a lather about this

are not even users of the AB device, but individuals with a

reputation (and maybe some other $$ incentive ??)for spreading any

dirt about AB that they can. It is obvious to me that these folks

don't care about AB users, but are hell-bent on trashing AB's

reputation.

3. If AB & MedEl are driven out of the market, does this really help

us ? Do you really think that having only one supplier would make

the future of CI better ? I sure don't, and firmly believe that all

3 companies make a great product, and this competition benefits us

all. Any efforts to kill the competition will come back to haunt us.

4. Competition helps us, but some companies will try anything to

squash it. Why do you think that that Cochlear US was investigated

by the US Dept of Justice for illegally trying to influence

decisions of MD's who were implanting CI's ? I wonder what happened

with that investigation ?

5. If anyone with an AB device or who is being implanted with an AB

device is not satisfied with AB's actions (and I mean ANY actions by

AB, not just recent actions), that is something worth discussing,

but so far, I have NOT seen anything from someone who is directly

affected.

6. Sad as it is, these devices really are NOT perfect. Some people

with all brands will have some failures. Internal channels fail,

processores fail, cords break, etc. Can anyone realistically expect

anything to have 100% perfect reliability. My brother has Cochlear

device, and had to have the processor replaced when it failed. Does

that mean that Cochlear is a crappy implant - absolutely NOT.

7. To me, the risk of surgery, device failure, or lower than hoped

for results will NOT deter me in seeking to hear again. By doing

nothing, the odds of me hearing are ZERO. AT least the CI will help

me improve those odds. PLEASE do not take this as an insult or slap

at those who don't pursue a CI. This is just my own personal

feeling, and I 100% respect anyone who decides differently.

In the immortal words of Forrest Gump:

" and that's all I have to say about that " ...

Best regards to all,

Jim S.

Impant date 3/22/2006

AB 90K Auria