Industry website iMedicalApps has uncovered a medical app with a tenuous relationship to accuracy: One that purports to use the iPhone's camera lens to reveal a patient's blood pressure. Big deal, you might say—the App Store is full of dubious treatments in app form.
But this app, priced at $3.99, is one of the top 10 paid apps in Apple's App store. And, judging by the reviews for the app, people are using it instead of blood pressure cuffs to manage their hypertension.
Theoretically, apps like this are supposed to be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Ordinarily, an app like this might expect a sternly worded letter from the agency for not receiving clearance to market its product. The app has text claiming that it is not a medical device and is for entertainment purposes only. Last year, an app performing urinalysis tried the same thing—and received an FDA letter all the same. An app can't simply will itself out of FDA regulations.
But the FDA is declining to enforce its rules against a swath of apps, accompanied by public assurances that the agency is all in favor of digital innovation.
It's possible, of course, to spend all day combing through Apple's and Google's app marketplaces and find such dubious apps. The question is, how will the healthcare system ensure that bad apps don't drive out the good ones?
Follow Darius Tahir on Twitter: @dariustahir
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