Chip shortage ‘impacts women’s health’: Hologic CEO
Supply chain issues create 'challenge' to produce mammography machines, Steve MacMillan says
CEO of medical tech company explains impact of chip shortage on women's health
Steve MacMillan, the CEO of Hologic, argues that his company is 'not able to fill the demand' for mammography machines because of supply chain issues.
Steve MacMillan, the CEO of medical technology company Hologic, argued on Thursday that the global semiconductor chip shortage "impacts women’s health."
MacMillan provided the insight during an exclusive interview on "Mornings with Maria" on Thursday.
Hologic primarily focuses on women’s health and sells medical devices, like mammogram machines, for diagnostics and medical imaging, according to the company’s website.
"The supply chains, and certainly the lockdowns in China, have had an impact in terms of the global semiconductor shortage," MacMillan told host Maria Bartiromo on Thursday.
"And that’s created a challenge for us in the short-term on our mammography machines because we haven’t been able to get as many chips."
Hologic CEO Steve MacMillan warns that the global semiconductor chip shortage "impacts women’s health." (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File / AP Images)
"So it’s back to where all the unintended consequences of these lockdowns [are] really rippling through the global economy at this stage," he continued.
The war in Ukraine has threatened to worsen an already concerning shortage in semiconductor chips.
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The U.S. has suffered a semiconductor shortage that has contributed to supply chain disruptions and further ripples across the economy. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo reported in February that some companies' supply fell from a month’s worth to just a few days’ worth, and earlier this month the White House warned of "escalating vulnerabilities" to the U.S. due to the shortage.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOLX | HOLOGIC INC. | 76.71 | -0.48 | -0.62% |
MacMillan noted that some of the company’s other businesses, like COVID testing, have been "positive," but "our mammography business right now, for the next couple [of] quarters, we are not able to fill the demand because of the supply chain issues."
He then warned that "it impacts women’s health."
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"We need to get back to women getting their screenings and all of those things going forth so that we can get back to a more normal focus on total health and not just on COVID," MacMillan told Bartiromo.
"And I think that focus on COVID is rippling through the economy here in so many ways, all the additional spending, the inflationary pressures, because we’ve taken a one-size-fits-all approach instead of trying to approach it more holistically."
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Inflation hit a new four-decade high in March.
The Labor Department said earlier this month that the consumer price index (CPI) – which measures a bevy of goods including gasoline, health care, groceries and rents – rose 8.5% in March from a year ago, the fastest pace since December 1981, when inflation hit 8.9%. Prices jumped 1.2% in the one-month period from February, the largest month-to-month jump since 2005.
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FOX Business’ Peter Aitken contributed to this report.