By Allyson B. Mullen – On February 14, 2014, FDA issued a final rule amending 21 C.F.R. Part 803, Medical Device Reporting, to require medical device manufacturers and importers to submit MDRs in an electronic format (the “Final Rule”). 79 Fed. Reg. 8832 (Feb. 14, 2014). …
By Jennifer D. Newberger – On February 5, 2014, CDRH released its 2014-2015 Strategic Priorities, in which it stated that the most important areas of focus over the next two years will be to “strengthen the clinical trials enterprise,” “strike the right balance between premarket and …
At the Food and Drug Law Institute’s (“FDLI’s”) 2014 Medical Device Conference – Key Legal and Regulatory Developments, which will take place in Washington, D.C. on February 27, 2014, top FDA officials will discuss their most significant recent activities and forecast upcoming medical device activities. …
By Jeffrey K. Shapiro – FDA has issued a new draft guidance on the custom device exemption. Comments are due by March 17, 2014. This schedule puts FDA on track to finalize the guidance by July 9, 2014, as required under section 617 of the Food and …
By Jennifer D. Newberger – On January 10, 2014, FDA issued a final rule amending the PMA regulations to require inclusion of information relating to pediatric subpopulations that suffer from the disease or condition that a device is intended to treat, diagnose, or cure, and the …
By Jennifer D. Newberger – As part of the Medical Device User Fee Act of 2012 (MDUFA III) Commitment Letter, FDA and the medical device industry agreed to participate in a comprehensive assessment of the medical device review process. MDUFA III Commitment Letter (April 18, 2012), …
By Allyson B. Mullen & Jeffrey N. Gibbs – On November 25, 2013, CDRH issued the Final Guidance “Distribution of In Vitro Diagnostic Products Labeled for Research Use Only or Investigational Use Only: Frequently Asked Questions” (the “RUO Guidance”) (see our previous posts on the draft …
By Allyson B. Mullen – For many individuals, a diagnosis, be it life threatening or chronic, is scary. However, the trial and error process that can follow the diagnosis in order to find a therapy (e.g., drug, device and/or biologic) that works best for the patient …
An article published in the current edition of Regulatory Focus, the flagship publication of the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS), and authored by Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.’s Alexander J. Varond discusses the recent trends and developments in personalized medicine, including FDA’s current thinking and …
By Allyson B. Mullen – Now that the eCopy program is well underway, it might be a good idea to review how the program works and consider a few of the common pitfalls. Although nearly a year has passed since the final guidance document for the …
By Jay W. Cormier – Notwithstanding the government shutdown, on Tuesday, October 1st, FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (“CDRH”) issued a final guidance regarding filing for an investigational device exemption (“IDE”) for medical device early feasibility studies. At the heart of the guidance is that …
By Kurt R. Karst – We’re now entering the second week of the shutdown of the federal government (or “the lapse period” as some have called it), and there does not appear to be an end in sight. In fact, the environment in Washington, D.C. has …
By Jeffrey K. Shapiro – There has been a lot of talk about hostage taking during the recent federal government budget impasse. But Congress is not the only one taking hostages in Washington. The recent draft Medical Device Reporting (MDR) guidance reminds us (pp. 4-5) …
By Ricardo Carvajal & Kurt R. Karst – According to contingency plans drawn up by the Department of Health and Human Services, 45% of FDA’s nearly 15,000 staff were to be furloughed in the absence of enacted annual appropriations – popularly referred to as a …
By Jeffrey K. Shapiro – As everybody has noticed, FDA finalized its guidance on Mobile Medical Applications earlier this week. We blogged on the draft version here. The final guidance is similar to the draft guidance – but with improved clarity. Hence, it has expanded from …
