Cybersecurity in focus for top medtech lobby

BOSTON —  Following several high-profile cyberattacks of medical device firms, cybersecurity is top of mind for one of the medtech industry’s prominent lobbying groups. 

AdvaMed Chairman Mick Farrell said the lobby is looking to create standards around cybersecurity, privacy, and interoperability at a Monday press event at the MedTech Conference. The CEO compared the effort to coming up with a code of ethics. 

“What we want to do is raise the bar of the whole industry throughout cybersecurity,” Farrell said. “Those headline-grabbing episodes send a message that anybody can be impacted at any time.”

This year, Stryker and Boston Scientific faced incidents that disrupted their operations, and other large companies including Intuitive, Medtronic and Abbott also reported cyberattacks. Other, smaller companies that don’t have as much security infrastructure may also be vulnerable, Farrell said, and the trade group sees an opportunity to support them.

Farrell, who is also the CEO of ResMed, a company that makes devices to treat sleep apnea and other sleep conditions, sees value in connected medical devices. The company’s respiratory machines connect to the cloud, which gives patients access to their own data, but it also means the company has to invest in its security infrastructure, Farrell said. 

Kirsten Tullia, AdvaMed’s executive director of digital health tech, said the group has been working to develop forums for chief information security officers and other learning opportunities to prevent these types of attacks across the industry. 

Tariffs, staffing other key issues

AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker also discussed tariffs and Food and Drug Administration staff levels as two other key issues the lobbying group is watching. The threat of Section 232 tariffs looms over the industry, but the Trump administration has not yet implemented any tariffs specific to medtech.

Recently, BD struck an agreement with the Trump administration to expand domestic manufacturing in exchange for exemption from future tariffs under Section 232. When asked if AdvaMed had a role in the negotiations, Whitaker said the group did not, but was paying attention to them.

“I think what we learned from the BD negotiation is there’s a model that the administration seems to like,” he said. 

Whitaker said the medtech industry should get credit for manufacturing 70% of medical devices sold in the U.S.

“Can we get to zero [tariffs]? I hope so,” Whitaker said. “If they’re consistent, we will. But you know, policymakers aren’t always consistent.”

Whitaker also said a key concern of his was maintaining staffing levels and ensuring high quality reviewers stay at the FDA. Staffing levels were a key part of medical device user fee negotiations this year after the Trump administration cut FDA staff in 2025.

“Working with [the FDA] to make sure they hit their hiring targets and maintain quality employees, I think, is very very important,” Whitaker said.