The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US is in charge of ensuring the security of implantable medical devices. There are about thousands of different kinds of devices available, ranging from pacemakers to artificial joints, to brain implants. Many are secure and safe as regulated by the FDA, however, the medical system is not perfect and is a very large business. There are risks associated with all medical device implants, even the most routine ones.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee today voted 53-2 in favor of reporting the American Data Privacy and Protection Act as amended.

For health equity, patient privacy, and interoperability, it is necessary to strike a balance between patient-driven consent-management tools and detailed data segmentation, according to Hannah Galvin, MD, chief medical information officer at Cambridge Health Alliance.