DeGette: Wearable Medical Devices Share Promise for Patients and Privacy Protection Challenges For Lawmakers

Press Release

Today, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-01) addressed the Atlantic Council about the promise of wearable internet medical devices and the patient privacy protection challenge they present policy makers.

"As more medical and internet technologies like the Fitbit and Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) reach a wearable size, the insights we stand to gain about health in real time increasingly inform how we treat medical conditions," said Rep. DeGette. "These cutting edge developments are a valuable tool for patients and medical providers, and as policymakers we must ensure that both patient privacy protections and technological innovation remain at the center of the conversation. I look forward to working with my partners from both sides of the aisle to ensure that networked medical treatment remains a core component of mine and Chairman Upton's 21st Century Cures Initiative."

Rep. DeGette Address at the Atlantic Council on the Risk and Reward of Wearable Medical Technologies

The Atlantic Council has been a thought leader since it was founded in 1961. The Council works to bring together researchers, experts, and policymakers from both sides of the aisle to build a network of individuals invested in innovative policy solutions. This morning's program, Cyber Risk Wednesday: The Healthcare Internet of Things: Rewards and Risks is a segment in the Atlantic Council's ongoing Cyber Statecraft Initiative.

The 21st Century Cures Initiative is a bi-partisan, multi-year initiative led by Rep. DeGette (D-CO) and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) that looks comprehensively at the steps needed to accelerate the pace of cures in America from research and development to the FDA approval process. Since the Initiative was announced in November of 2014, Rep. DeGette and Chairman Upton have conducted roundtable discussions and full committee hearings as well as broadly collaborating with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other agencies, in addition to the nation's patients and scientific pioneers in academia and industry.

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