US senator seeks ban on federal funds for Chinese-made medical devices

Republican senator Rick Scott has urged the US Congress to prevent federal healthcare funds from being used to purchase medical devices manufactured by Chinese companies, citing concerns over patient privacy and national security.

Scott said hospitals and clinics receiving funding through Medicare, Medicaid or other federal programmes should be prohibited from buying Chinese-made equipment. He also called for such devices to be gradually removed from every healthcare facility accepting federal money and proposed criminalising foreign espionage involving Americans’ medical data.

“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 article published on Tuesday.

“We must phase Chinese-made medical equipment out of every facility accepting federal funding,” the Florida senator added.

Scott cited cybersecurity weaknesses detected in the Contec CMS8000 patient monitor, manufactured by a China-based company, to support his demand. The equipment displays vital signs such as patients’ heart rate, blood pressure and electrocardiogram readings.

In January 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a safety warning concerning the Contec CMS8000 and the relabelled Epsimed MN-120. The agency said that connecting the devices to the internet could pose risks to patients and healthcare networks.

Federal authorities identified three vulnerabilities that could allow an unauthorised person to remotely control the monitors, disrupt their intended operation or gain access to the networks to which they were connected. The software also contained a “backdoor” capable of bypassing existing cybersecurity protections.

According to the FDA, once connected to the internet, the monitors collected patient information and transmitted it outside the healthcare environment. Scott said compromised devices could potentially send diagnoses, medication details and biometric readings from US hospitals to foreign actors.

“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.

However, the FDA said it was not aware of any cybersecurity incident, injury or death associated with the vulnerabilities. Contec later developed a software patch, and the regulator said in July 2025 that the update had removed the affected devices’ networking capabilities. The monitors could consequently be used only for local observation while a patient was physically present.

Scott maintained that the case demonstrated the wider security risks posed by foreign-made 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.

The senator also called on Congress to employ trade-enforcement measures to restrict Chinese medical equipment. He said patients should be assured that the machines monitoring their health remained under the control of their doctors and hospitals.

His demand comes as the US Commerce Department conducts a national-security investigation into imports of personal protective equipment, medical consumables and medical devices under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.

The inquiry is assessing America’s dependence on overseas suppliers, the impact of foreign subsidies and the possibility of supply-chain manipulation. It will also determine whether tariffs or quotas are required to protect national security.

The investigation covers a wide range of medical equipment, including hospital beds, pacemakers, insulin pumps, ventilators, scanners and patient-monitoring devices.

With IANS inputs