Wellness vs medical tech: Where's the line?

Wellness vs medical tech has become a hot topic as devices like smartwatches and fitness trackers pack in increasingly sophisticated features. The recent FDA warning to Whoop over its Blood Pressure Insights tool highlights how blurry this line can be. While Whoop insists the feature falls under the “wellness” umbrella, the FDA argues it crosses into medical territory by implying health diagnosis. This situation raises essential questions for both tech developers and consumers: when does a helpful health insight become a regulated medical claim?

Understanding the “wellness” loophole

Most wearable companies rely on the wellness classification to bypass strict regulatory requirements. Features like step counters or sleep scores are seen as tools for general lifestyle improvement rather than clinical diagnosis. That’s why they’re considered wellness features. But once a device suggests that it can detect or help manage a medical condition, it enters FDA-regulated territory. Companies like Apple have carefully navigated this distinction—seeking FDA clearance for EKGs but not for blood oxygen tracking. Whoop’s attempt to calibrate blood pressure insights using an actual cuff straddles this fine regulatory line.

Why Whoop’s case matters for the industry

The Whoop incident isn’t isolated—it’s a bellwether for the entire wearables industry. As users demand more medically relevant data, companies are tempted to walk that tightrope between innovation and compliance. The risks are real: mislabeling a medical feature as a wellness tool can result in regulatory crackdowns, product recalls, or worse—consumer harm. Wearables that offer data-driven advice, especially those influencing medical decisions, must be held to higher standards of accuracy and transparency.

What it means for consumers and developers

For consumers, it’s crucial to recognize that not all health insights are created equal. A wellness feature may provide motivation or awareness, but it shouldn’t replace a doctor’s advice. Developers, on the other hand, need to design with both innovation and responsibility in mind. Transparency about what a feature does—and doesn’t—do is key. As the line between wellness vs medical tech continues to blur, trust and clarity will be the most valuable currencies in health technology.