Are Health Apps Dangerous to Your Health?

The popularity of iPhones, Galaxies, and other smartphones have led to amazing health innovations through the use of apps. These apps serve as an easily accessible source of knowledge and generalized diagnostic information. However, they are also potentially dangerous medical products which provide people with untested and inaccurate information.

Unhealthy Apps?

A recent study looked into the top 107 apps for measuring high blood pressure and hypertension. The study found that almost 72 percent of these apps offered useful information that can be used to track one’s personal medical data. However, others are completely bogus, such as the apps which claim to obtain accurate blood pressure readings by placing one’s finger on a phone’s screen or camera.

There are several obvious problems with using such an app to measure medical data as important as one’s blood pressure. The blood pressure apps allegedly work by measuring one’s finger pulse through a phone’s camera. However, scientists found that this is a dangerous claim because it can lead to false alarms or false assurances. An individual using such mobile technology to track his or her blood pressure may receive a false positive or false negative, and it may arguably lull one into a false sense of security or result in a misunderstanding of one’s current blood pressure status.

Considering that one in three Americans suffer from high blood pressure, it is understandable why health apps are an attractive resource to anyone using a cell phone. But the inaccuracies of these apps are especially dangerous to those suffering from hypertension. If symptoms, such as high blood pressure, go unrecognized, it can result in damage to one’s heart and may increase one’s risk of heart attack and stroke—the two leading causes of death in the United States.

Additionally, health apps, such as the blood pressure monitors, are not medical devices regulated by the FDA. As the study suggests, the increasing use of these apps for medical purposes raises serious questions of patient safety and eventually product liability lawsuits.

Products liability lawsuits allow consumers to fight back against defective or dangerous products. Defects in products can occur when a product is improperly designed, has a defect upon manufacture, or does not contain an appropriate warning label. Therefore, as the number of people who these apps to diagnose and track medical data increases, the growing risk of injury via these unregulated medical products also increases.

If you believe you have been injured due to incorrect or false information provided by a dangerous product, you need an experienced attorney to help evaluate your case. You may be entitled to compensation for your injuries or medical costs.

Contact an Experienced Products Liability Attorney

If you or a loved one has been the victim of defective or dangerous product, drug, or medical device in Wisconsin, contact one of our Green Bay products liability lawyers and Appleton products liability lawyers at [[title]] today. We have offices located in Green Bay, Appleton, and Oshkosh, and we are happy to provide you with an initial consultation to discuss your case.