Wikipedia says: A Cochrane Review of studies published regarding NPWT stated that there was no evidence that the procedure significantly increased the healing rate of wounds compared to alternative treatment, calling for more and better research to be performed before a final conclusion could be reached.

Why just Haiti - sell these in drugstores in the USA too (except in the USA I am sure the markup will be crazy under the guise to pay for R&D)

Some of us can't afford insurance (and still won't in a few years, the fine is much cheaper) so DIY for $3 sounds great if I needed one instead of a doctor/hospital visit.

The "cylinder with accordion-like folds" looks like the business end of the toilet plunger I recently bought, so it's already mass produced and easy to source cheaply.

I hate to naysay an effort that was obviously intended as a righteous humanitarian effort, but is testing these devices in Haiti an ethical action?

We have rigorous rules about testing medical treatments on our own citizens, but it seems that in the time of Haiti's worst crisis, their citizens become our guinea pigs. Maybe she was helping out lots of people down there, but maybe she was getting in the way of real, proven medicine. If so, these Haitians are further suffering so that we can conduct some more medical research? The article certainly doesn't say these devices brought an iota of healing to the people of Haiti, and that's a warning sign too.

Even if this was a good singular decision, it's a slippery slope to send scientists down to disaster sites to test their gizmos.

How do you test this? Healing rates are hugely dependant on quirks of the patient... So you can't really have a control group not using the apartus... Do you inflict a second, identical wound to the individual to compare which heals faster?

What is the science behind vacuum suction healing? Does anyone have information on why this works? I see the theory from the article, but I would love to know more about this.

This is brilliant! I love simple and cheap things that can save your life. Unfortunately the pharmaceutical "mafia" don't have interest in investing in simple and cheap medicine. So will go on taking expensive medicine that don't work anyway.

I'm Matthew Win Tibbals, pedophile. http://www.matthewtibbals.com