Hypertension Alerts Coming to Older Apple Watch Models

[JaydenA]

I have a bluetooth cuff meter and do use it on a regular basis. This warning - for people who don't know - is a good thing and kudos to Apple for being able to backport to last generations devices. (Suggesting they added the sensor capabilities back then with a long term plan to gather and correlate the training data from cuff + watch users)

The damage on our organs (like kidneys) from hypertension can be significant.

If people are not going to a doctor for years, this becomes a "We notice your blood pressure seems a little high, would you like to ask your doctor" thing.

 

[NervousFish2]

do anybody knows if this is already available in the RC? I don't see how to activate it or check if it is active. Sleep score is there also for past months that's great but not hypertension measurement or alerts.

I don't know if sleep score was there before. I updated today having been on the dev beta for weeks, and it definitely looks different. You now have rings and a "sleep score" not just sleep tracking.

 

[The_Auryn]

So no actual blood pressure monitoring?

Can you imagine the Apple Watch band tightening (along with a whrrrring sound) every 30 seconds to track your blood pressure?

 

[Digitalweddings]

Just like the sleep apnea feature from last year, wear it constantly for 30 days and it tells you that you *might* have and issue. Pretty much useless compared to proper equipment. And they are getting away with it as most people believe it is wow features.

 

[hanske68]

This is an extremely rare example where Apple wants to push a software feature known to provide potentially life-saving support to as much hardware as possible for the benefit of all.

Apple can't sell to a dead person...

 

[joefinger]

So, Apple is boldly promoting hypertension alerts on the Watch with a ‘coming this month’ rollout before they have FDA clearance. Is Apple getting preferential treatment from the FDA again, or are they just playing by their own rulebook as usual. FDA guidance is clear: you cannot advertise or promote a medical feature until the FDA has cleared or approved it for that intended use. Marketing an uncleared medical feature, even if labeled “pending clearance” and kept disabled, is still considered pre-approval promotion, which is by law prohibited and constitutes misbranding under the FD&C Act.

But different rules apply to Apple. When it added ECG capability, it had to b̶r̶i̶b̶e̶ convince the FDA that the Watch itself wasn’t really a medical device, that an electrocardiograph could simply be an “app”, exempting the watch itself from stricter medical device regulation and oversight.

I guess that’s one way to drive innovation - ignore or bend the rules, something only Apple could get away with.