For medical gear, I'm a 100% solid "no" for that. When a personally-known medical professional tells me that a certain piece of gear is good to go, I pay close attention to that. So far, the ones I have trained with didn't suggest anything of the sort.

For survival gear, my position is less black-and-white. An isobutane camp stove, for example, is pretty hard to screw up. I've used mine for a few years and found it to be just what I need. It's an inexpensive, no-name import. My cookpot is no-name brand for sure. But not much else that I can think of.