My own take is essentially yes, various means depending on the secret, the nature of the item, the desired result, and your own local campaign, and it depends on how you make it and the nature of the secret.
In most cases, I would say its probably very difficult, and to do so with full effectiveness requires heroic action. Losing your own ability would be one form of heroic action, heroquesting another, having to find obscure and unusual ingredients (saintly relics, otherworldly materials, special crystals) another. THe process of item creation should differ from game to game, from feat to feat, etc. And the nature of the secret and the item creation should determine who can use it.
In other words, its a classic example of Rodericks 'yes, but.....' response. Whenever anyone asks something that seems more or less OK (after all, RuneQuest items with a Sever Spirit seemed to crop up all over the place, without leading to immanent collapse of the game system), but also raises serious concerns, make it a story element and complicate the issue so players know that what happened is special and not a rule they can count on.
Cheers David
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