Regulatory Open Forum

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  • 1.  Regulatory Controls over Apple Store and Google Store

    Posted 19-Dec-2023 10:16

    Does FDA or other regulatory bodies have any controls/oversight/reporting requirements for the Cell Phone application stores and if so what is the regulation number?

    Submitting a non-medical software application per FDA 2019 guidance on dashboards and Google accepted quickly. Conversely, Apple is on our 8th round of queries. 



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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: Regulatory Controls over Apple Store and Google Store

    Posted 20-Dec-2023 00:58

    Hi Ed

    The US FDA explicitly excludes app stores from manufacturer requirements.

    https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/digital-health-center-excellence/device-software-functions-including-mobile-medical-applications#e

    The EU rules also seem to apply to the device manufacturer and not the app store. Possibly they might want to check you're handling requirements like ensuring a communication channel from manufacturer to user in case safety notices may be needed at some point, and ensuring there's a declaration of conformity per 2017/745 article 6...

    https://health.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-10/md_mdcg_2023-4_software_en.pdf

    I could imagine Google and Apple doing a little bit of due diligence, like asking for a statement that the device meets registration and listing requirements, if it's actually a medical device. Amazon received another warning letter recently for distributing unapproved drugs, and I expect the app stores would like to avoid similarly being platforms for dangerous unapproved SaMD. But it's hard to imagine them having sufficient medical device expertise to delve very far into the details.



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    Anne LeBlanc
    United States
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  • 3.  RE: Regulatory Controls over Apple Store and Google Store

    Posted 20-Dec-2023 05:28

    Hi Ed,

    There are no such requirements in the UK and EU either, however you need to consider the data protection regulations especially if you are collecting some user health data. Google and Apple Stores may have questions around this as they have to comply with data protection laws in the regions where the software will be used.

    Have a great week.

    Olga 



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    Olga Peycheva
    Regulatory and Study Start Up Specialist (Clinical trials)
    Solutions OP Ltd
    https://solutionsop.co.uk/
    United Kingdom
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  • 4.  RE: Regulatory Controls over Apple Store and Google Store

    Posted 20-Dec-2023 08:55

    Thanks Olga and Anne!



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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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  • 5.  RE: Regulatory Controls over Apple Store and Google Store

    Posted 20-Dec-2023 09:11

    Hi Ed

    No, they would only be a distributor, similar to Amazon, unless they launched their own device.

    Yeah, I have heard from developers that AppStore is a pain.  Frankly, the way Apple rips off other people's software IP, I'd be concerned anyway.  Just ask Masimo ...



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    Ginger Cantor, MBA, RAC
    Founder/Principal Consultant
    Centaur Consulting LLC
    River Falls, Wisconsin 54022 USA
    715-307-1850
    centaurconsultingllc@gmail.com
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  • 6.  RE: Regulatory Controls over Apple Store and Google Store

    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
    Posted 20-Dec-2023 14:55
    This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

    SEE ALSO good info on previous thread "Apple Store"