Medical Devices

A medical device industry lawyer said a recent report issued by FDA on digital health tools reassures stakeholders that the agency will not regulate five categories of software which Congress deemed safe when it passed the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016.

FDA issued the interim results of agency-mandated duodenoscope reprocessing studies to help inform hospitals and health care facilities of the need to carefully clean and properly maintain the devices, the agency said Monday (Dec. 10).

In a surprise move Thursday (Dec. 6), bipartisan duos of House and Senate lawmakers released draft legislation that lays out a framework for FDA to regulate in vitro clinical tests, such as test kits and laboratory developed tests (LDTs).

A medical device industry expert told Inside Health Policy he expects a new proposed rule published by FDA on the de novo pathway will go a long way towards clarifying the process for device manufacturers, helping FDA reach the performance goals laid out by Congress and helping the agency achieve its goals of modernizing the 510(k) premarket notification process.

A device industry lawyer alleges that FDA’s proposals to reform its 510(k) process violates the agency’s statutory authority, threatens to monkey around with the device market, and would increase the cost of device innovation and health care more generally.

A day after releasing a plan to overhaul FDA’s clearance process for certain low- and moderate-risk medical devices, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb defended his agency’s proposals amidst a wave of industry opposition to them and used cybsecurity concerns to make his point.

One industry lawyer found that FDA has put out many more new rules for the food and medical device industries over the past six years than it has for other industries, such as drugs, biologics, cosmetics and animal feed.

FDA device center chief Jeff Shuren says that his agency, in order to consistently be the best in the world at identifying and responding to device safety signals, will need more resources to fuel its real-world evidence-gathering apparatus, the National Evaluation System for health Technology (NEST) and its coordinating center (NESTcc).

FDA on Tuesday (Nov. 13) moved toward fulfilling provisions in the 21st Century Cures Act that allow FDA to waive or alter informed consent regulations for minimal risk clinical investigations as long as there are appropriate human subject protections in place.