Masimo Chief Executive Joe Kiani told investors and analysts the following on a recent conference call:
“The state legislature of Utah recently issued a resolution that recommends consideration of home pulse oximetry monitoring for all patients receiving a post-operative prescription for opioid upon discharge…If we can get OTC [over the counter], we’re hoping this new system would develop and will be cost-effective and affordable so that many people can afford to buy it.
“Right now, in Utah, they’re buying a [Masimo-made] Rad-97, which is a hospital-grade device that costs a couple of thousand dollars, and they’re sending [it] to [a] home with one or [a] few of our adhesive sensors. And they’re doing that because they had some very high-profile opioid-related deaths.
“There was a young man, Parker, 21 years old, 6’4” [who] goes in for a tonsillectomy [and] was given opioids to go home with for pain. He took half of the pill and went to bed and never woke up. So that case along with a few others pushed the community to say we got to do something different.
“And ever since they’ve been prescribing our technology there, they have not had another opioid-related death except for a woman who refused to be monitored, which unfortunately she did pass away, which was terrible.
“So, looking at the consumer side of things; we think if we can make it at a price that keeps us on our normal margin, but makes us affordable and we have this new revolutionary design that we’re hopefully going to be able to show you when we see you all in May.
“We think it can be done, it can be done really in a cool, cost-effective way.”
