Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/03/15/the-last-iron-lung-user-a-poignant-reminder-of-the-importance-of-vaccines.html
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Wow, that headline made me immediately wonder if he was able to receive the COVID vaccine or if he was so vulnerable he had to take his chances. Tragedy compounding tragedy.
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He may be the last person using an iron lung in America. Why?
Because positive pressure ventilation systems made iron lungs obsolete decades ago. There are still plenty of people with breathing difficulties, they just don’t treat them with 1930s technology.
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Yeah, I wondered whether there wasn’t a more modern solution available
It’s America, so his insurance probably covers an iron lung but any of these new fangled gadgets, ventilator, Exovent (neat!), probably would cost him $100K per month. 
https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/new-iron-lung-could-help-treat-covid-19-patients
Reboing:
By the time positive-pressure ventilators were in widespread use, however, Paul was used to living in his lung, and he had already learned to breathe part of the time without it. He also never wanted a hole in his throat again. So he kept his iron lung.
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