According to the Associated Press there are over 17,000 apps related to health and medicine available for smartphone users. This month, the FDA announced that it will begin regulating a portion of these apps, specifically those that work with medical devices that are already regulated by the FDA, such as heart monitors.
It has been a busy year for three-letter US regulatory agencies and the wireless industry, with the FCC asserting new regulations on Phone Data and Net Neutrality, but this is the first foray into wireless world for the FDA. As smartphone technology progresses, experts anticipate smartphones and medical apps to replace many stand-alone medical devices, pushing them into obsolescence much like trends in GPS and MP3 players.
