The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a more stringent set of requirements for the use of ethylene oxide for sterilization of a variety of products, including medical devices, a proposal that is expected to increase the cost of operating these facilities.
Seemingly in response to the release of a proposed rule for ethylene oxide emissions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. FDA has released a second pilot program for device master files for sterilization of medical devices. This program is for single-use PMA devices only made by nine companies and allows the manufacturer or sterilizer to document the switch to radiation sterilization with an expedited review process.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new set of requirements for control of emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO), a standard the agency claims will “slash” emissions by 80% per year. The problem for med-tech trade associations is that EPA expects that the abatements be implemented within 18 months, a pace that industry says is too aggressive and could lead to shortages of critical devices and products used in surgeries and other procedures.
The Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) has led the policy charge for smaller medical device manufacturers for decades, but each year brings its own unique set of hazards and opportunities. In an interview with BioWorld, MDMA President and CEO Mark Leahey said that while the Medicare policy for coverage of breakthrough devices has gone through some unanticipated twists and turns, that policy is not yet fixed and thus there is still some prospect that such a policy will not devolve into a stew of leftovers drawn from existing coverage mechanisms.
Sotera Health Services LLC, the parent company of Sterigenics US LLC, has agreed to pay $408 million to settle more than 870 lawsuits pending against the company in Illinois as a means of moving past the specter of ongoing litigation over Sterigenics’ use of ethylene oxide (EtO) for contract medical device sterilization. The settlement may open the doors to litigation over other sterilization plants’ use of the sterilant, constituting an industry-wide attack on device sterilization services that may crimp supplies of devices that are not candidates for other methods of sterilization.
The controversies over the use of ethylene oxide (EtO) as a medical device sterilant were quelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has resurrected the issue.
The U.S. FDA’s device center continues to promote alternatives to ethylene oxide (EtO) as a medical device sterilant, with the latest development involving radiation as a sterilizing technology. The agency said it may open a new master file program for radiation that follows an existing program that is agnostic as to sterilization method, and which may speed the adoption of alternative sterilization methods in the years ahead. The FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health recently announced a pilot program for alternatives to EtO sterilization that would eliminate a significant number of regulatory filings.
Ethylene oxide (EtO) has been a mainstay in medical device sterilization for decades, but fears of carcinogenicity sparked protests outside EtO sterilization plants in Georgia and Illinois in 2018. While the COVID-19 pandemic overrode those concerns for two years, the FDA has opened a pilot program for conversion of sterilization methods that would require fewer regulatory filings than would otherwise be the case.
The controversy over the use of ethylene oxide (EtO) is back in play, thanks to a May 5 letter from the Office of Inspector General at the Environmental Protection Agency to the EPA. The letter recommends that the agency revisit its work on determining the status of EtO based on new data, data that may lead to more restricted use of EtO to sterilize medical devices.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting medical devices and technologies, including: CRS: Supply chain for testing still under pressure; AHRQ eyes provider-to-provider telehealth; Health Canada emphasizes nursing homes in report on testing; Advamed, Georgia Bio sound off on EtO.