Former President Bill Clinton appeared at device maker Masimo Corp.’s (Nasdaq: MASI) headquarters on June 28 for a talk addressing the opioid crisis with Chief Executive Joe Kiani.
The discussion centered around Masimo’s two products, Opioid Halo and Bridge, which are designed to alert emergency contacts in the case of overdose and reduce withdrawal symptoms during recovery respectively.
Kiani in 2012 started the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to reduce the number of preventable deaths in hospitals. Clinton is a frequent speaker at the annual Patient Safety events.
“I can’t think of an issue right now in America that’s more nonpolitical,” Clinton said during the event in front of an audience of 250 at Irvine.
Clinton on Narcan
Masimo last April received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its Opioid Halo, making it the first and only FDA-cleared monitoring solution for an opioid overdose.
Opioid Halo helps detect opioid-induced respiratory depression, the leading cause of death from opioid overdoses, and automatically sends alerts to users and their loved ones when an accidental overdose occurs.
More than 100,000 people died of drug overdose in America in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A large issue is that half of the deaths occur when the person is alone.
“You can bring back almost anyone with Narcan, but you have to be there with them,” Clinton said.
Masimo’s Bridge product is worn behind the ear and sends electrical impulses to the brain to reduce opioid withdrawal symptoms. Chesterfield County Jail in Viriginia became the first correctional facility in the country to use the technology.
“You see people withdrawing in jail and it is one of the most painful, inhumane things to watch,” Bailey Hilliard, Chesterfield inmate rehabilitation programs manager, said at the discussion.
Hilliard and others from Chesterfield met with Masimo and Clinton in New York last summer to learn about Bridge and have since implemented the device in the jail for inmates experiencing withdrawal.
Neither Clinton nor Kiani discussed the upcoming proxy battle on July 25 that may force the CEO and chairman’s resignation from Masimo. Kiani started the company 35 years ago and built it into one of the world’s preeminent medical device makers with a market cap topping $6 billion.
