Regulatory Open Forum

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  • 1.  Hypothetical Questions

    Posted 23-Feb-2022 11:33
    Company A develops and manufactures a brand new type of medical device. The device is reviewed (FDA) and is made available for use in the market.

    Company B submits a 510(k) using Company A device as the predicate. This device is cleared and available in market for use.

    Sometime later company A notifies FDA it is withdrawing its device from the market for a serious design problem after numerous reportable events. The device is not planned to be resubmitted for marketing/sale.

    May company B continue marketing and selling its device? If during its annual management review its noted under MAUDE and the 510(k) register the original device has been removed from market for safety reasons how should company B proceed?




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    Edward Panek
    VP, QA/RA
    Med Device
    USN Veteran
    Research into Neural Nets - https://www.twitch.tv/edosani
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  • 2.  RE: Hypothetical Questions

    Posted 23-Feb-2022 15:57
    It's worth looking into more details.  I'd say depends on what type of serious design issues.  It would be good to find out what type of serious design issues.

    Search reported events from the FDA's TPLC website using the product classification code gives one source of information, however, it may not be easy to find out all the design issues' details from the public information for the predicate.

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    Lin Wu, RAC
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  • 3.  RE: Hypothetical Questions

    Posted 25-Feb-2022 10:40
    Edited by Gaurang Bhavsar 25-Feb-2022 10:41


    Predicate devices that were problematic and removed from the market may still be used to demonstrate "substantial equivalence" for new devices. Also, devices that were already on the market when regulation began in 1979 were grandfathered; they may be used as a predicate even though they never had to demonstrate safety or efficacy. In 2011 the Institute of Medicine recommended eliminating the 510(K) pathway, saying it fails to protect patients. But since then, Congress has approved measures to allow more devices to use that pathway.


    https://www.healthnewsreview.org/toolkit/tips-for-understanding-studies/medical-devices/


    Hope above link will be helpful for your way forward with your product.


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    Gaurang Bhavsar, MS, RAC
    Associate Director - Regulatory Affairs
    Micro Labs USA, Inc.
    Somerset, NJ 08873
    USA
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  • 4.  RE: Hypothetical Questions

    Posted 26-Feb-2022 10:41
    If Company B discovers by any means that their own product may have a serious design flaw, the CAPA process may be a good way to investigate the extent of the problem and plan whatever actions may be appropriate - design change, discontinuation, recall, or whatever.

    Company A's actions have no particular effect on Company B's product's clearance. If Company B's product is not affected by Company A's product's flaw, it can still be made available.

    If company B's product is not affected, it would be a good idea to have documentation showing why not, because the question is likely to be asked at some point.

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    Anne LeBlanc
    United States
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