All Features
Margaret A. Hamburg
There are many good reasons to go to Arkansas in September: to visit Little Rock, America’s No. 1 most livable city; or attend the annual Eureka Springs Antique Automobile Festival, to name two. But neither of these reasons are why more than 100 scientists, researchers, government regulators, and…
Paul Naysmith
Arecent call with an old colleague from Europe got me wondering about a question that few are conscious of: Who is the customer of your quality document? Oh boy, did we have an interesting discussion about quality systems.
My friend was developing and reinvigorating his employer’s quality system,…
Dennis Payton
Given the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) increased findings for companies that must comply to CFR 21 Part 820—“Quality system,” it’s curious that the oversight body has not offered much guidance about product design control, particularly concerning sections 820.30 and 820.40 of the…
Stericycle Inc.
According to the quarterly ExpertRECALL Index, 48 percent of all medical device recalls reported during the second quarter of 2013 had both U.S. and international components. In addition, the number of device recalls increased 30 percent from the last quarter, resulting in the highest number of…
Bakul Patel
Many medical devices today perform at least one function by using wireless technology to support health care delivery. In telemedicine, for example, a wireless device can enable real-time monitoring of patients from a distance. Data from a patient-worn or implanted medical device goes directly to…
Bakul Patel
For medical devices, the term “interoperability” refers to the ability of various devices to interact, and for electronic health record systems to talk to each other using a common vocabulary. It is similar to the concept of “plug and play” computer attachments such as a web cam or mouse, which…
Margaret A. Hamburg
It’s a small world. Every day, there’s a good chance that some of the food you’re eating came from another country. Fifteen percent of the food we eat, including nearly 50 percent of the fresh fruit and 20 percent of vegetables, is imported each year.
That’s why it’s so important that we do…
The QA Pharm
Editor's note: This is the first in a five-part series exploring issues that affect management’s ability to detect the warning signals of current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) compliance problems in the pharmaceutical industry.
Compliance to current good manufacturing practice (cGMP)…
David S. Buckles, Lawrence Romanell
Disagreements are inevitable in science, medicine—and even life. As part of a regulatory agency committed to public health, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) medical devices center occasionally confronts scientific and policy disagreements among its staff and with the various stakeholders…
Michael Causey
In a new 47-page guidance the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appears to be doing its best to cover the waterfront for medical device manufacturers who need to better understand the complex medical device reporting (MDR) requirements. Topics range from the big picture (who is subject to this…
Kimberly Egan
What do China, Maine, Connecticut, Chipotle, and Whole Foods have in common? They all think you have a right to know whether the food you are eating contains any genetically modified organisms, known as GMOs.
I like that. Why do I care? Because the genes in GMO plants have been altered in a…
Michael Causey
The Internet giveth and the Internet taketh away. For years, we’ve been hearing about the benefits online tools will bring to the medical industry, especially at hospitals and physicians’ offices. Many of those promises have come true, and it’s been a benefit for patients and industry.
But that…
John Roth
In an earlier article, I explained how the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigation (OCI) works when a small portion of the industry fails to adequately respond to regulatory action. For Abbott Laboratories and Amgen, the price for regulatory malfeasance was high: $1.4…
Michael Causey
The shell game called the federal budget added another nut recently as media reports revealed that during the last 20 years, approximately $1 billion in fees paid by patent applicants has been diverted from its proper use at the United States Patent Office (USPTO).
Critics argue that, as a self-…
James Andrews
T
ake a moment to consider some of the foods we find at the supermarket: eggs, tomatoes, coffee — maybe even chocolate chip peppermint brownie ice cream. Now, try to imagine all the steps and processes that the food went through to get all the way to those shelves.
Although the ice cream likely…
Michael Causey
The latest batch of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection letters noting objectionable conditions, aka 483s, has a decidedly international flair: Italy, Japan, and Canada had the pleasure of hosting FDA inspectors in recent months. Three firms were found wanting by the agency in a number…
Quality Digest
On March 28, 2013, the world lost a person whom many consider to be a major contributor to the world of industrial statistics: George E. P. Box. Relatively unknown outside the world of statistics, Box was certainly very well known by those who have studied or practiced industrial statistics.
His…
Michael Causey
The giant sequoia trees on the Pacific Coast are breathtaking. Majestic and seemingly indestructible, they stand tall as a reminder that slow and steady sometimes does win the race. But what’s great in a forest isn’t always so great elsewhere.
Let’s push the metaphor a bit more, and say there’s…
Margaret A. Hamburg
The deadly outbreak, in October 2012, of fungal meningitis associated with a compounded medication was a horrible tragedy. I’ve asked myself many times if and how it could have been prevented. I speak for everyone at the FDA when I say that our hearts go out to the many victims, including those…
A smart phone that can perform an electrocardiogram (ECG)—measuring the electrical activity of a person’s heart to determine whether he is having a heart attack—is in my opinion an extremely smart phone. That is just one example of how mobile medical applications are transforming healthcare.
As…
Michael Causey
A prominent politician goes before his constituents during a tough reelection campaign. He’s introduced by the local mayor, and strides to the stage, waving and smiling to enthusiastic applause.
“It’s great to be here with you tonight. I love this great state of [fill in the blank]. Erica and I…
Kimberly Egan
Nutrition labels have been much in the news lately, presumably because we have once again won the fattest nation contest. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and various nutrition researchers have all put out some thought-provoking information for us to ponder.
The problems
First, people don’t…
Michael Causey
Turns out that some paranoid people have a reason to, well, be paranoid. Researchers from the London Business School issued a report last year finding that many people at work who thought they were being talked about were probably right.
Maybe some in the medical device industry can be forgiven…
IntraStage
The first production Model T auto in 1908 ushered in a new era of transportation by shrinking dramatically the time it took for people to move from place to place. Like the Model T, communication technologies such as email, mobile phones, and the Internet are dramatically shrinking the time for…
Kimberly Egan
On Jan. 4, 2013, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took the first step in its history to regulate produce farmers. The agency issued a 547-page proposed rule that spends a lot of time reducing everything humanity has learned about plants since agriculture emerged in the Fertile Crescent 10,…
