The New York Times reports Friday evening that a bunch of high-ranking Apple executives met last month with some top folks at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency that regulates health devices.
According to the Times, Apple was represented by Bud Tribble (VP of software), Jeff Williams (SVP Operations), and Michael O’Reilly (former chief medical officer of Masimo). On the FDA’s side were chair Margaret Hamburg, Jeff Shuren (director of Center for Devices and Radiological Health) and Bakul Patel, described as the guy who’s in the forefront making sure that medical gadgets and software actually do what they’re supposed to.
It’s not clear whether this was an initial feeling-out meeting or a get-together to iron out some problem. But it was a pretty high-powered sitdown, and one more indication that Apple’s working seriously on some kind of health-monitoring app and/or device.