Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Aug 26: Republican Senator Rick Scott has called for a ban on the use of US federal healthcare funds to purchase Chinese-made medical devices, citing cybersecurity and national-security concerns over internet-connected equipment.
Scott has urged Congress to bar hospitals and clinics receiving Medicare, Medicaid or other federal funding from purchasing medical equipment manufactured by Chinese companies.
He has also called for Chinese-made medical devices to be phased out of all healthcare facilities accepting federal funds and proposed making foreign espionage involving medical data a criminal offence.
“We must cut off federal health care dollars – Medicaid, Medicare, all of it – from any hospital or clinic that purchases medical devices from Chinese companies,” Scott wrote in an opinion piece published on Tuesday.
The Florida senator based his demand partly on cybersecurity vulnerabilities identified in the Contec CMS8000 patient monitor, manufactured by a China-based company. The devices are used to display vital signs including heart rate, blood pressure and electrocardiogram readings.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety communication in January 2025 warning that the Contec CMS8000 and its relabelled version, the Epsimed MN-120, could pose risks when connected to the internet.
Federal authorities identified three vulnerabilities that could allow an unauthorised user to remotely control the monitors, cause them to malfunction or expose connected networks.
The software also contained a “backdoor” that could allow unauthorised actors to bypass cybersecurity controls.
According to the FDA, once connected to the internet, the monitors collected and transmitted patient information outside the healthcare environment.
Scott said such vulnerabilities could potentially expose diagnoses, medication information and biometric readings from US healthcare facilities.
“A machine designed to help doctors and hospitals make life or death decisions conveniently was capable of sending sensitive patient data straight home to Beijing,” he wrote.
The FDA, however, said it was not aware of any cybersecurity incident, injury or death associated with the identified vulnerabilities.
Contec later developed a software patch. In July 2025, the FDA said the patch removed networking functions from the affected devices, meaning they could be used only for local monitoring in the physical presence of the patient.
Scott said the episode demonstrated a broader national-security risk posed by technology connected to sensitive US networks.
“The same is true, and may be even more dangerous, when that technological device is sitting in a hospital’s intensive care unit,” he said.
He urged Congress to use trade-enforcement measures to restrict Chinese medical equipment, arguing that American patients should be confident that machines monitoring them are controlled by their doctors and hospitals.
Meanwhile, the US Commerce Department has opened a national-security investigation into imports of personal protective equipment, medical consumables and medical equipment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.
The investigation is examining US dependence on foreign suppliers, foreign subsidies, potential supply-chain manipulation and whether tariffs or quotas may be needed to protect national security.
The review covers a range of equipment, including hospital beds, pacemakers, insulin pumps, ventilators, scanners and patient-monitoring devices.