Is the sky falling? Device makers keep saying so By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health is certainly on a regulatory tear of late, and industry is understandably rattled by some of the developments. After all, CDRH only recently managed to shed a couple of obvious malcontents in the persons of Robert Smith, MD, and Julian Nichols, MD, who both worked at the Office of Device Evaluation at CDRH and were not exactly happy to get their walking papers. My impression is that you have to be either really obnoxious, noticeably incompetent,...
In January when the FDA unveiled its 25-point plan to change the 510(k) clearance program, currently the quickest and most commonly used pathway to getting a medical device to market in the U.S., it appeared that a smooth landing might be in the works for the med-tech industry. That landing, however, was deferred, saddling the program with one of the greatest annoyances to any airline passenger, the dreaded holding pattern, when it was revealed that 30 other more controversial recommendations from the FDA working groups were being delayed. Among the most contentious recommendations being postponed was one for CDRH...