By James R. Phelps – According to recent reports concerning the widely reported “whistleblower” scandal at FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (“CDRH”), in 2009, the CDRH dissidents involved in the affair, while still employed at FDA, filed a “secret” Federal False Claims Act suit …
By Kurt R. Karst – Just before Congress recessed for the month of August, and less than a month after the July 9th enactment of the FDA Safety and Innovation Act, several FDA-related bills were placed in the hoppers in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House …
By Jennifer D. Newberger – Perseverance can be an admirable quality, except when it is misguided. So it seems to be with Representative Edward Markey and Senator Jeff Merkley, who seem intent on convincing the public that devices cleared through the 510(k) process pose great risks …
By Jennifer D. Newberger – On August 10, 2012, FDA issued a draft guidance, “Refuse to Accept Policy for 510(k)s.” This draft guidance largely mirrors the recently issued draft guidance for premarket approval applications, “Acceptance and Filing Review for Premarket Approval Applications (PMAs),” on which we …
By Carmelina G. Allis – On August 2, 2012, the FDA published a final rule amending its regulations in 21 C.F.R. Part 807 to reflect the 2007 statutory amendments to the device registration and listing provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ("FDC Act"). …
By Jamie K. Wolszon – FDA published in the July 31, 2012 Federal Register a notice announcing the Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2013 rates pursuant to the third iteration of the Medical Device User Fee Act (“MDUFA III”), which was recently enacted as part of the FDA …
By Jennifer D. Newberger – The Medical Device User Fee Amendments of 2012 ("MDUFA III") require FDA to “publish guidance outlining electronic copy of submissions ("e-Copy") and objective criteria for revised ‘refuse to accept/refuse to file’ checklists.” On July 30, 2012, FDA issued a draft guidance …
By Douglas B. Farquhar – In a rare request for a court to review FDA’s failure to clear a medical device for market distribution, arguments have been finalized, briefs have been filed, and oral argument has been scheduled for September 21, 2012. The case, filed in the U.S. …
By Jennifer D. Newberger – The pre-Investigational Device Exemption ("IDE") program, established in 1995, was originally intended as a way for sponsors to obtain FDA feedback on future IDE applications. Over time, the program expanded to include feedback on other submissions, such as premarket approval ("PMA") applications, …
Earlier this week, President Obama signed into law the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (“FDASIA”) (usually pronounced “fuh-day-zha”). In addition to reauthorizing and amending several drug and medical device provisions that were scheduled to sunset, FDASIA establishes new user fee statutes for …
By Jamie K. Wolszon – Five years ago, Congress passed the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 (“FDAAA”), requiring FDA to promulgate regulations establishing a Unique Device Identifier (“UDI”) system to facilitate adverse event and recall tracking. Under FDAAA, the UDI regulations must require an identifier on …
Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. Director Douglas B. Farquhar is a key presenter at the Food and Drug Law Institute’s (“FDLI’s”) upcoming conference in São Paulo, Brazil. The conference, which is scheduled for September 10-11, 2012, is titled “U.S. & Brazil: Navigating New Frontiers in …
By Jeffrey K. Shapiro – A provision in the House FDA Reform Act of 2012 (H.R. 5651) would require FDA to “regularly publish detailed decision summaries for each clearance of a device requiring clinical data” (Section 704). The requirement would be applied only on a going …
By Jennifer D. Newberger – On June 5, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released a report titled “Scientific Disagreements Regarding Medical Device Regulatory Decisions.” A number of scientific disputes at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (“CDRH”) …
By Kurt R. Karst – In a late-day vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 436, the Health Care Cost Reduction Act of 2012 (formerly titled the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2012), by a 270-146 vote. Among other things, the bill repeals the medical …
