Doctor Sues Apple Over Heart Monitoring Technology

Apple Watch has made news headlines with its technology that saves lives, but now it is in the news for a whole other reason. It turns out that the watch's heart monitoring technology may have been stolen.

RELATED: APPLE WATCH CREDITED WITH SAVING A UK DAD FROM HEART ATTACK, STROKE

A stolen patent

A New York University cardiologist is claiming that the watch uses his invention. Dr. Joseph Wiesel of NYU School of Medicine has filed a suit on Friday in federal court in Brooklyn.

He is stating that Apple stole his patent for a method to detect an irregular heartbeat. According to Bloomberg, Wiesel said his invention covered “pioneering steps” in atrial fibrillation detection by monitoring “irregular pulse rhythms from a succession of time intervals.”

He also claims that he reached out to Apple in September 2017 and gave the firm detailed information about the patent. Apple has “refused to negotiate in good faith to avoid this lawsuit,” Wiesel said in the suit.

Now Wiesel either wants Apple to pay him royalties or to stop using the heart monitoring technology. The technology is extremely useful and has even led to saving lives.

Saving lives

Back in May of 2018, a Tampa Bay teenager, Deanna Recktenwald, was alerted by her watch that her resting heart rate had jumped to 190 beats per minute. After rushing to the hospital emergency room, the young woman was told she had kidney failure and could have died if it wasn't for the quick intervention.

Just two months ago, a UK dad was saved from a heart attack thanks to the watch. He was alerted by the Apple Watch of an irregular heartbeat and urged to seek medical attention. The doctors he saw said he would have suffered a stroke or heart attack if the device hadn't alerted him to the potential atrial fibrillation.