The following are responses to my query as to whether other prosthetists
have experienced a problem of unreliability with Mauch SNS units in the
recent past. You will note that CaTech has its detractors as well, albeit
fewer. Of the 10 prosthetists who responded, 8 complained about either new
Mauch units or their loaner units being unreliable; whereas, 4 complained
about the CaTech units (2 complained about both Mauch and CaTech). Although
I have not confirmed this, one respondent reported that Endolite has
purchased CaTech, which, to many of us, may explain any recent quality
problems with CaTech. Seems that the product quality managers for both Mauch
(Ossur) and Catech (Endolite) have their work cut out for them.
In the meantime, buyer beware. A note: we have just been informed of a
recent policy change at Ossur. Ossur’s customer service has led me to
understand that Ossur will not allow you to return hydraulic knee units even
if they have only been used in your office. That makes it tough for a
patient to try different knees and make an informed choice unless your office
owns its own knee units/frames for patients to try.
I think it would be informative for us all for manufacturers of
prosthetic knee units to weigh in on this Listserv as to what their
warranties are, whether they charge for use of a loaner unit, whether they
accept returns of new knees/frames and if so, within what time frame and if
they charge a restocking fee.
Below are the responses.
David Varnau, CPO, LPO
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Thanks for your post, we also have been finding a
change in quality and reliability. We have also
experienced a problem with the warranty repairs. And
like you have decided to go to Catech.
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Yes, Just had one recently fail, less than 7 months old.
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In a word, yes.
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The Mauch’s have seemed to worked ok for us so far. We have been finding
recently that the Catech seems to have extra resistance in swing , making
them not as smooth as the Mauch. I thought they were supposed to be the same?
Whats the world coming to?
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I thought it was just me. I have sent the last three units I’ve had repaired
back at least twice and one is back there for the third time. I offered to
buy their loaner because the patient didn’t want his unit back. They said
no. Rumor has it that they let the Ohio staff go and moved the operation to
Century XXII in Michigan.
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David… I had a problem with my very first Mauch SNS since the Ossur buyout
and I admit, it was the first such experience with a “new” Mauch unit. I
recently replaced a Mauch SNS unit in another prosthesis, approximately 4-6
weeks ago, but have not had seen a problem with that unit to date.
This is unfortunate, to hear because at one point I switched to CaTech to
give them a try because of their extended warranty and then back to Mauch
because of reliability problems with the CaTech units. The problem we had
with the CaTech units were that they would not maintain their settings and
would drift out of their adjusted position. Possibly this problem has been
resolved?
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I read your comment and I have some more frustrating information for
you. The story I heard is back when Mauch died, his daughter’s husband came
on board, he treated all the employee’s with contempt and basically caused a
mutiny i.e. CATECH. I am normally loyal but at the time I couldn’t get a
unit rebuilt at Mauch for two months or better some times. Finally out of
desperation I called CA TECH and ask if they would rebuild my Mauch units.
At first they said no way but they got so many requests that they finally
acquiesced and gave their rebuilt Mauch’s a one year warranty same as their
own. I started buying their units because of the good customer service I
was receiving on the rebuilds. Also their units were lower priced and the
had 6 months more warranty than Mauch. Sounds like a win, win situation but
that’s not the end of my story.
A while back Endolite came on the scene and bought CATECH. I then
began to notice that the units just didn’t hold up the way that they had for
the years prior to Endolite’s acquisition. Oh they still honored their
warranty but it seemed like I had to have the units refurbished much more
frequently than before Endolite.
I had a conversation with an Endolite employee that I shall leave
nameless. He told me that in order to save money on the unit, the final
precision machining was not being done by CNC machines, rather the process
was done by abrasive tumbling. This lowered the costs but the final
tolerances were not as good and therefore the units need rebuilding much
more frequently. I do not know at this time if they are still using this
cheaper process on the units but I know they have received lots of
complaints about their units.
I wish I had better news for you, but at this point it seems that
neither Ossur’s or CATECH’s unit are as reliable or dependable as they once
were. At least that’s my impression.
Right now one of the most reliable and durable knee units I have used
is the Otto Bock 3R45. I know it doesn’t have stance control, it eats foam
covers like a weasel, and reimbursements are poor, but the hydraulic in the
unit goes and goes and goes and it is extremely light weight.
My personal philosophy; I want to improve lives and the best way to do
that is to provide comfort, function, and reliability (durability). It
disturbs me when I am unable to provide quality to my patients especially
when you look at the prices our profession must charge in order to stay in
business. I guess it is just a sign of the times but when you boil it down
it still isn’t an excuse for inferior quality products. I want to be proud
of the products and services I provide!
That’s my take on the story. I suppose it’s depressing news but you
are not the only one out there who is getting feed up with the inferior
quality. We can keep complaining to the manufacturers and hope they will do
a better job in the future. One last comment, I remember having a
conversation with Ossur several years ago before he went on his buying
spree. He told me his goal was to be the best prosthetic device
manufacturing company in the world. I wonder did he lose sight of his goal
or did he just lose his grip? Well I’ve got to go, I am laminating an
exoskeletal AK with a CA TECH SNS. Kind of ironic isn’t it.
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I have not yet experienced problems with new Mauch units but the loaner units
are horrible. When sending units in for service, very often the loaner that
is sent out is in much worse and more UNSAFE condition.
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As I am in St.Pete, FL and deal with mainly geriatrics, I don’t use too many
of them. However, I recently had two I sent back for rebuilds that failed
within one year.
Screw them. Use catech.
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I have a patient who wears his Mauch unit out in one year. My patient and I
were not pleased with this and decided to try a Ca-Tech in the office. The
patient rejected the Ca-Tech because it lacked the extension bias of the
Mauch. Therefore, we purchased another Mauch. This was two years ago.
Since then we had to repair the new unit once. However, 6 months ago we
moved onto the Otto Bock 3R60 which the patient likes much better than the
Mauch. It has better stance stability. Patient likes it for hills. It has
more range of motion and is lighter. This patient is active but does not
run. Let me know if your patients can feel the difference between the Mauch
and Ca-Tech.
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David Varnau,
My name is Dave Rakowski and I am contacting you because I am concerned.
It has been brought to my attention that you have become very displeased
with
the quality of the Ossur product line. Especially the Mauch products.
I would like very much for you to contact me and discuss your concerns.
We at Ossur take great pride in our product lines and the quality
manufactured
into them.
Your name is familiar and we may have even spoken to one another
previously.
I look forward to the opportunity to discuss your concerns and hopefully
regain
your confidence in the Ossur name and the Mauch cylinders.
Best regards,
Dave Rakowski
Quality Manager
Ossur, Engineering
