Loss of mobility

My flash/thumb/USB drive (whatever they're called where you are) stopped working last night. Just stopped working, while it was plugged into the laptop. One moment the laptop recognized it was there and the next, no longer. The issue's not the USB port because I tried swapping the drive and the mouse. It's not the laptop because I tried it on the desktop too. There's no data on it that hadn't already been backed up at least once, but its loss is an inconvenience. Anyone know whether these things can be fixed, and by whom? And for future reference, how important is it that you Remove Hardware Safely every time you unplug it?