From Peter Staats - I work in the medical device industry. The $250 is the direct cost of the hearing aid. Surgical instruments that cost $200 to manufacture are sold for as much as $2000. The companies have to charge that much to cover the FDA mandated quality systems documentation, certified product testing, PMA (pre-market approval) clinical study costs, regulatory department, etc. I am not saying that all of these costs are not justified, just that they don't apply to a laptop. In addition to the manufacturer's mark-up there are a lot of downstream cost adders that go into the patient's bill.Just a tought
