Stair-Climbing Wheelchair Gets FDA's OK

[newyawker99]

It's complicated and carries a hefty pricetag, but the federally approved iBOT wheelchair promises to give some of the nation's 2 million wheelchair users new freedom of movement, even allowing them to climb stairs.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized the sale of the iBOT, which uses sensors and gyroscopes to climb up and down stairs. It also shifts into four-wheel drive to navigate grassy hills and can lift its occupant to standing height.

Doctors have called the technology potentially revolutionary and the FDA termed it a breakthrough, but one so complex that, unlike other wheelchairs, it will require a doctor's prescription and special training before patients can buy an iBOT.

The iBOT will cost $29,000, less than some top-of-the-line models for the severely impaired but far more than basic wheelchairs. The maker, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Independence Technology, is negotiating with Medicare and other insurers to pay for the wheelchair, but could not say Wednesday if that is likely.


wheelchair

[dave29]

1. Invented by Dean Kamen

Same guy who invented the Segway.

I've read stories about people using the iBot and having a face to face conversation with others for the first time in years - which had a profoundly positive effect on them. Also watched a simulated shoving match between a person in a "standing" iBot with another person - it was astounding to see the iBot user win.

Revolutionary technology.

[DemonFighterLives]

2. Great news

Thanks for the link. I'll have to see if "The It Question" Website or the "Dweeb Cabal" has this. They are avid followers of Dean and his inventions.

[newyawker99]

14. You are welcome DemonFighterLives!

:-)

[jayfish]

3. Check Out This Link

I Have Been Following The iBOT Since The Start Of The Whole IT hoopla. I knew that keeping this link for the past three years would be good for something.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/285231.asp

To see just how revolutionary this machine is, make sure you watch the video. IMHO it is more important then the Segway.

Jay

[Greyskye]

4. The video

That video brought tears to my eyes when I watched it 4 years ago, and it did it again today. Kamen is definitely the Edison of our age.

[jayfish]

5. Same Here,...

I hadn't cried in 20 years.

Jay

[Pastiche423]

8. The price tag

brought tears to my eyes. Only wealthy wheelchair users can afford it. Medicare certainly won't pay for it.

[jayfish]

9. Hopefully The Price Will Come Down...

as the cost of R&D is chewed up by initial sales. In theory the price should also drop as cost of manufacturing comes down. But we have all heard that one before. CD's anyone?

Jay

[Johnyawl]

12. The cost of the R & D was...

...underwritten by the Heinz foundation. That's controlled by Teresa Heinz, wife of John Kerry.

[Johnyawl]

10. Not really

Only wealthy wheelchair users can afford it

While $29,000.00 is nothing to sneeze at, put it in context: The vast majority of the SUVs & PUs on the road today, driven mainly by the middle class, start in that price range.

That said, there are plewnty of people in wheelchairs who are not middle class, don't have that kind of money, or credit, and have no insurance or insurance settlements to help them with the price tag. SS Disability and Medicare are going to have to cover this. Like prescription drugs, this is going to have to be made an issue.

[Pastiche423]

11. Insurance won't cover it either

I've been following this story for well over three years. In the beginning, is was wonderful to image the freedom a chair like the Ibot would bring to the disabled.

But after researching and discovering that neither insurance companies, nor Medicare would pay for it, reality sunk in. It's kind of cruel in a way. Hey look! Look what you can do in this chair! It can climb stairs, climb hills, wheel through mud, sand, rocks and water and you can have a face to face conversation w/every abled bodied person!

The majority of PWDs live on SSDI and I seriouly doubt many have $29K laying around after paying for their monthly medical needs which Medicare does not pay for.

That said, I am happy for all of the rich crips out there that can afford one.

P.S. The reason that the insurance companies decided ahead of time not to cover the Ibot, is due to liabilty. (An accident waiting to happen.)

[Aaron]

15. Is it unlikely to change with a Dem' administration?

I'm not a scholar of disability politics in the US by any means but my uneducated guess is that Dem's are more likely to get something like this paid for by medicare than Repub's. Is that true? Or is it more of a bureaucratic issue or issue that the Dem's don't differ significantly from the Repub's on?

[Fair and Balanced]

6. What great news

But I must admit, looking at it, I'd be scared to death taking it up steps! All in getting used to it, I suppose.

[newyawker99]

16. Hi Fair and Balanced!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Best_man23]

7. My older brother was wheelchair-bound

Before he died in 1990, he dreamed of having a chair that could climb stairs and negotiate obstacles.

He would have loved this new chair. Dean is a genius.

[lumpy]

13. I would be afraid to get in that thing

What a ride that would be if it failed. Have a hunch it won't sell like hotcakes, especially at $29,000.00. I doubt if Medicare would cover such a contraption. The wealthy could well afford to have a strong body to carry them up the stairs more safely. Would I trust a patient who is severely impaired to have the ability to manuever such a monster? I think not.