In my last post on medical devices, I talked about software verification. I have been watching some of the talks from OSCON 2011 and I came across one where Karen Sandler talks about the difficulties she faced when trying to see the source code for her implanted medical device. She brings up a very good point. Open access to the code is absolutely necessary for evaluating a medical treatment. We have lists of side effects and interactions for drugs, but no way of thinking about the algorithms that power the devices upon which lives depend.
Video: OSCON 2011, Karen Sandler