The U.S. FDA posted an updated safety communication regarding pulse oximetry accuracy with an eye toward those with darker skin pigmentation, a problem that has surfaced in the medical literature. The FDA said it intends to convene an advisory committee hearing later this year, suggesting that more strict performance standards for pulse oximeters are on the way.
In an era of ever-increasing change in regulation of medical devices, the 2021 draft regulatory proposal by the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) might have seemed like an invitation to regulatory balkanization. However, MHRA said the responses to the draft proposal indicated widespread support for “international collaboration with like-minded regulators,” thus reassuring industry that their developmental devices won’t face an entirely new set of barriers to access to a market of more than 67 million.
Becton, Dickinson & Co. (BD) recalled intraosseous needle set kits and power drivers. The action was triggered by difficulties in separating the stylet from the needle. The FDA also announced a class I recall of the Volara respiratory clearance system by Baxter Healthcare Corp., of Deerfield, Ill., because of issues with an in-line ventilator adapter.
Regulatory harmonization of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is high on the checklist for companies that want to develop these products, but legislatures and regulatory agencies across the globe seem less interested. Koen Cobbaert, senior manager for quality standards and regulation with Royal Philips NV, told BioWorld that there is a race on to be the first market with a full-fledged set of regulations, a fact of life that does little to advance the cause of harmonization.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported an indictment of a physician in Paducah, Kentucky for causing the filing of false claims to the Medicare program with the help of telehealth. The physician is liable for only $560,000 in penalties, but the announcement again underscores the department’s crackdown on telehealth fraud, regardless of the dollar value of the fraud.
Davita Inc., lost a U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding limits to the private payer coverage for outpatient dialysis services despite, a development that took a double-digit bite out of Davita’s shares. However, shares of competitor Fresenius also took a hit, suggesting that the market sees the decision as a major setback for both companies.
The U.S. FDA reported a class I recall for a single lot of the Safestar 55 breathing filter system by Draeger Inc., due to partial obstruction of the filter, which can lead to hypoxia. The affected units were part of a lot that was to be destroyed, but were instead inadvertently distributed even though they were identified as unusable after a manual inspection process at Draeger.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) present regulators and payers alike with some interesting dilemmas, but that statement can be applied to patent offices and inventors as well. In this fifth installment in a series on AI in radiology, we’ll examine the hazards of acquiring and sustaining intellectual property protection for these algorithms, a much more complicated and complex undertaking than many developers might appreciate.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had covered transcarotid artery revascularization for patients at high risk of poor outcomes during carotid artery endarterectomy to correct for stenosis, but the agency recently expanded that patient population to those at standard surgical risk. The news was lauded by the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) as a solid development for patients, given that this procedure’s complication rates are in many instances lower than seen in conventional endarterectomy.
Medical device supply chain considerations became especially salient during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the U.S. FDA is interested in ensuring that supply chains do not hamper patient access going forward. However, Clayton Hall of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) said on a recent FDA webinar that device makers are sometimes at the mercy of their suppliers.
