The hot topic—and ongoing headache—this year for the medtech industry undoubtedly was tariffs: the looming threats, the reprisals, the perpetual changes, and the confusion. Essentially, a year of tariffs, turmoil, and trepidation.  

Truly troubling.

“The high levels of uncertainty around trade, tariffs, and geopolitical circumstances have made it difficult for executives to make long-term decisions about their businesses and to continue a path toward growth,” professional services network EY noted in its Pulse of the MedTech Industry Report 2025, released earlier this fall. “Now, as geopolitical tensions and trade policy uncertainty mount, the sector is being forced to rapidly upskill and adapt to the reality of tariffs.”

Clearly, tariffs dominated the headlines in 2025, but they were just one of many forces weighing on the medtech sector that exacerbated existing apprehensions. Further fueling the industry’s anxiety were federal workforce layoffs (affecting the CDC, NIH, and FDA); a debilitating cyberattack; falsified testing data, and Verily’s all-too quiet medical device exodus—among other overlooked developments.

Masimo’s Malicious Marauder

Cybercriminals infiltrated Masimo Corporation’s digital network in late April, temporarily suspending production and distribution of its patient monitoring devices. Although the unauthorized access did not compromise Masimo’s cloud-based network, it disrupted the company’s website and several internal computer systems. In response, Masimo promptly shut down its on-site IT infrastructure to contain the incident—a move that subsequently impacted its ability to process, fulfill, and ship customer orders.

Masimo reported the incident to law enforcement and con-ducted an investigation with cybersecurity professionals to assess the attack’s scope. The company later determined the incident was not targeted, but the source and motive for the attack remains unknown. 

Within a month of the incident, Masimo’ had resumed near-normal manufacturing operations. 

“…Masimo’s cyberattack and sudden operational paralysis serve as a stark reminder that not even healthcare tech is immune to cyber threats,” a May 8 blog on cybersecurity firm Hoplon Infosec’s website read. “This event highlights a growing trend: as medical devices become smarter and more connected, they also become more vulnerable.”

And that vulnerability comes at a price.

Lying Laboratories

As Masimo managed the aftermath of its cyber breach, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) disciplined two China-based third-party testing laboratories that falsified or used invalid data in premarket device submissions. 

The agency cited Mid-Link Testing Company Ltd. and Sanitation & Environmental Technology Institute of Soochow University Ltd.­­—both of which provide testing and validation data services—upon discovering anomalous data and “highly improbable” cytoxicity datasets that contained either identical or nearly identical test results. 

In light of its discovery, the FDA rejected all data the two companies generated for use in premarket device submissions. “Let me be clear. The FDA has no room for bad actors. Once we discover data integrity issues, we will respond accordingly,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., said in a May 22 news release about the labs’ deceit. “Such false and shoddy activity jeopardizes access to new devices for patients and healthcare providers, negatively impacts product sponsors, and potentially disrupts the medical device supply chain.”

And makes it hard to trust again.

Verily’s Vanishing Act

With little to no warning this past summer, Alphabet’s life sciences arm Verily laid off staff and eliminated its long-running medical devices program.  

Beget as a moonshot inside Google’s X lab, Verily has cut costs and streamlined projects in recent years as Alphabet refocuses its strategy around artificial intelligence (AI) and data infrastructure. Verily’s innovations included a clinical study watch, a retinal camera, and a wearable glucose sensor (developed in partnership with Dexcom).

“As Verily has continued on its journey of narrowing product focus around our precision health platform, and data and AI strategy, we cannot support the investment of the resources necessary for the long-term growth and scaling of our Devices programs, and have therefore made the difficult decision to fully wind down the program,” Verily CEO Stephen Gillett told employees in an Aug. 25 internal memo. “These are not decisions we’ve taken lightly. We will continue to honor our commitments by supporting customers using the Numetric Watch in active clinical trials.”

The number of employees affected by Verily’s decision could not immediately be determined. In a statement to Business Insider, the company described the device program shutdown as part of its “normal business operations,” emphasizing the need to allocate resources where it can have the greatest impact and accelerate the path toward sustained commercial success.

It’s too bad medical devices are being left behind on that path.