> Am I missing some profound piece of engineering that warrants this price?

Liability insurance and FDA approval. If you've ever seen the words "For Research Purposes Only" on equipment, that's an indication of profitable device, but small market.

I know people who sell equipment to IVF (in-vitro fertilization) labs that are insane about safety, so their equipment is certainly good enough for general use. However, their volume is sufficiently low that it's just not worth the monetary expenditure given that they have an out simply by labelling things correctly.

Agreed. Developing a medical device is not cheap and unlike most consumer products, these devices need to go through rigorous safety testing to make sure it does what it says it does. A lot of capital is needed just to comply with FDA regulations.

I feel like it might be some of the latter. "You can't really put a price on a human life" and therefore they can overcharge a bit

I'm guessing the FDA approval process isn't exactly cheap, either.

Idk maybe the valve system to dispel air and liquids requires an expensive manufacturing process? There are also lawyer fees to recoup