Several senior managers at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) have been pushing the convergence between U.S. FDA and international quality systems standards, often with the claim that the two standards already are nearly completely aligned. However, Jack Garvey, CEO of Compliance Architects LLC, ran through a side-by-side comparison of ISO 13485 and Part 820 and maintained that the two standards are too conceptually and textually different to plausibly assert that they are 95% harmonized.

There are some U.S. FDA work items that have been hampered primarily by the COVID-19 pandemic, and some that have just proven difficult to push across the finish line. The FDA’s October 2018 draft guidance for premarket considerations for cybersecurity in medical devices might fall into that latter category, but the FDA’s Suzanne Schwartz said the agency will reissue another draft version of that guidance, which will be available sometime in early 2021.

The U.S. FDA will no longer review lab-developed tests (LDTs) for the SARS-CoV-2 virus under the emergency use authorization (EUA) program, a change that will eliminate any prospect of immunity from liability for these tests. The FDA’s Tim Stenzel, director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health, announced the news on the weekly COVID-19 testing town hall, but the change was simultaneously unveiled in the FDA’s Q&A for testing.

Biosense Webster Inc. reported U.S. FDA approval of its Thermocool Smarttouch SF ablation catheter for the treatment of patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (persistent AF). This follows results of the prospective, multicenter Precept study, which showed the catheter to be safe and effective for 80% of patients over 15 months of ablation therapy with clinically meaningful improvement in quality of life.

U.S. FDA commissioners must rely on legal counsel for advice on a number of matters, but attorneys who sign on for work at the agency bring with them different views on the limitations of the agency’s powers. This consideration came up during a panel discussion hosted by the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI).

The annual med-tech conference hosted by the Advanced Medical Technology Association, always features an FDA town hall, but this year’s town hall labored under the overhang of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, Jeff Shuren, director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), repeatedly gave voice to frustration with the statutory authorities currently enjoyed by the center, stating on more than one occasion that the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 are more than 40 years old and are in need of updates to cope with modern medical technology.