Here’s a warning for anyone using Smart Phone or computer Health Apps: If you really need the extra monitoring, make sure the apps REALLY WORK and are accurate. A Major Blood Pressure App maker just got hit with a fine of more than $500,000.00 for exaggerating the accuracy of its’ product.
Aura Labs, Inc. have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they deceived consumers with claims that their Instant Blood Pressure (IBP) app was as accurate as a traditional blood pressure cuff.
According to the FTC’s complaint, Aura sold the IBP app through Google Play and Apple’s App Store for between $3.99 and $4.99. Between June 2014 and June 2015, sales of the app totaled more than $600,000, according to the agency. In marketing the app, Aura and Archdeacon claimed that it could be used to replace around-the-arm cuffs and would be just as accurate as the traditional device, the FTC charged.
In reality, however, blood pressure readings reported by the IBP app were significantly less accurate than those taken with a traditional blood pressure cuff. To use the company’s IBP app, users put their right index finger over the phone’s rear camera lens and held the base of the phone over their heart. The Commission charged defendants with violating the FTC Act.”
