Big Pharma Hands Out Fitbits To Collect Better Personal Data

An anonymous reader writes: Since the dawn of modern medicine, there have really only been two ways to know what a medical patient is doing: A) keep them around and monitor them, or B) ask them. The first is often impractical, and the second is fraught with misreporting. However, we're now in the age of data collection, and medical data is no exception. Pharmaceutical companies are gleefully passing out Fitbits and other wearables so they can more accurately test the drugs they make. Early trials have already found such devices to be better than human memory at reporting things like how much a patient walks. Other organizations are using movement data to algorithmically decide whether a patient needs a higher level of treatment. The article optimistically adds, "Down the line, wearables also could help pharmaceutical makers prove to insurance companies that their treatments are effective, thus reducing health costs."

Comments

How DARE they!

[Anonymous Coward]

How dare big EVIL Pharma collect accurate information that could ensure the safety of drugs and save people's lives!
It's an outrage!

Re:How DARE they!

[Penguinisto]

It's one thing to use them on a voluntary basis in order to test the efficacy of a new drug. In such a case, it makes perfect sense.

However, it's another thing entirely for a health insurance company to require their use (or face a massive premium hike, etc).

Then again, on a slight tangent, I do find it interesting that more and more drugs are coming out these days which pretty much require the drug's use for, quite literally, the rest of your life (usually heart medications).

Re:My kingdom for a hacker.

[Voyager529]

Same here! I've wanted a Fitbit-style fitness tracker as well, but one that didn't require an account or cloud synchronization. I see no reason at all for a fitness tracker to outright require that data be uploaded to someone else's hard drive; all of the functions and accounting it performs can be adequately handled on my phone directly. However, no one seems to be marketing to this particular niche. If you find one, or if the Fitbit can be modded to exist in some form of 'local only' mode, I'm definitely in.

Re:Gasp!

[gstoddart]

10 years ago I would have called someone saying that delusional too.

But the last 10 years have taught me that almost nothing is too far fetched to believe. Years ago the nerds all went "yeah, right, they can't actually do that you know".

Post-Snowden, however, lots of people are going "holy crap, we're not paranoid enough ".

And there's so many people saying "well, if it's to protect the children or stop the terrorists it must be OK". Sadly, we seem to be racing towards a surveillance society, and people seem to not be outraged by it.

I'm no longer kidding when I say such things. And that is scary, because it means being tinfoil-hat-crazy is now a normal state, and founded in reality.

But always remember: All of this data collected by these things is pretty much under secret US jurisdiction, just like the stuff from Microsoft is. So, yes, Big Brother really is watching.