• where experts go to learn about FDA
  • Allyson B. Mullen

    • Bad Labs! Bad Labs? Whatcha Gonna Do?March 12th, 2024

      On February 20, 2024, FDA issued a letter to the medical device industry (link) warning medical device firms of recent FDA concerns related to fraudulent and unreliable laboratory testing data in premarket submissions.  Unfortunately, the letter provides little new information to guide industry conduct.  While …

    • One Step Closer to Final: The LDT Rule Arrives at OMB, Making A Lawsuit More LikelyMarch 4th, 2024

      FDA’s proposed rule to regulate laboratory developed tests (LDTs) as devices took one more step towards publication as a final rule – and to a likely judicial showdown.  On March 1, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) received the draft final LDT rule for …

    • FDA Issues Long-Awaited QMSR Final RuleFebruary 22nd, 2024

      More than five years after FDA first announced its plan to harmonize 21 CFR Part 820 with ISO 13485, on February 2, 2024, FDA finally issued the Quality Management System Regulation (QMSR) Final Rule. The final rule emphasizes risk management activities and risk-based decision making. …

    • FDA Phones a Friend: Joint Statement with CMS Eschews CLIA Modernization and Supports FDA Oversight of LDTsFebruary 5th, 2024

      On January 18, 2024, the director of FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health and the chief medical officer and acting director of CMS’ Center for Clinical Standards and Quality issued a joint press release supporting FDA’s recent proposed rule regulating Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs). …

    • FDA Can’t Reclassify Its Way Out of Reviewing 100,000 LDT SubmissionsFebruary 2nd, 2024

      On January 31, 2024, FDA announced its intent to initiate the reclassification process for most in vitro diagnostic (IVD) products that are currently class III (high risk) into class II (moderate risk). Most of these reclassified tests will supposedly be infectious disease and companion diagnostic …

    • A Final LDT Rule in April!? Will FDA be Prepared?December 12th, 2023

      With comments due on the proposed LDT rule last week, FDA wasted no time updating the Unified Agenda to indicate that a final rule may be published in April (here).  We take this date with a grain of salt given the frequency with which these …

    • FDA Stealthily Convenes Multi-Cancer Testing Panel MeetingNovember 28th, 2023

      Shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday, FDA announced with no fanfare that it would be holding a Molecular and Clinical Genetics Panel meeting this Wednesday November 29.  The notice (here) indicates that FDA plans for the panel to “discuss and make recommendations on the design of …

    • A Question 30 Years in the Making: Would a Final LDT Rule Withstand Judicial Scrutiny?November 2nd, 2023

      For more than three decades, FDA has claimed that the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) gives the agency legal authority to regulate laboratory developed tests (LDTs) as medical devices (see our prior post here).  In this post, we summarize the purported basis …

    • The Rise of eSTAR for Medical Device De Novo SubmissionsOctober 24th, 2023

      As of October 1, 2023, all 510(k) submissions, unless exempted, must be submitted to FDA using the electronic Submission Template And Resource (eSTAR).  The same template can also be used for De Novo submissions.  Currently, eSTAR is voluntary for medical device De Novo submissions, but …

    • Proposed LDT Rule Raises Many Questions but Provides Few AnswersOctober 6th, 2023

      As we reported last week, FDA has issued a 26 page, single spaced, tiny-font Proposed Rule of Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs).  There is much to unpack, and we intend to do so in a series of blog posts. In this post, we focus on the …

    • We Have an LDT Proposed Rule!September 29th, 2023

      It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for, dreading, anticipating . . . . Today, FDA released a copy of a proposed rule to regulate laboratory-developed tests (LDTs), which is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on October 3rd.  The proposed rule has a …

    • Out At Home: FDA’s Vocal Support of Home Testing but Reluctance to Clear Novel OTC Home TestsJune 23rd, 2023

      FDA has been clearing over-the-counter (OTC) in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests nearly since the beginning of its premarket regulation of devices.  The first OTC IVD cleared by FDA was a qualitative dipstick urine glucose test in 1977, followed shortly thereafter by the first OTC pregnancy …

    • Minor Updates to FDA Pre-Submission Guidance With More to ComeJune 21st, 2023

      On June 2, 2023, FDA issued the latest version of its guidance on Requests for Feedback and Meetings for Medical Device Submissions: The Q-Submission Program. The document provides minor updates on procedures, incorporating recent developments and experiences in how FDA interacts with industry.  For example, …

    • FDA’s Summer Plans May Include LDT RulemakingJune 20th, 2023

      The long-running saga of FDA regulation of laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) has taken yet another new turn.  In the most recent Unified Agenda, which is a list of planned regulatory actions published semi-annually by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FDA announced its intent to …

    • CCP Improvements Allow Industry to Track Pre-submissionsJune 5th, 2023

      FDA recently released further updates to the Customer Collaboration Portal (“CCP”).  Readers of the blog will know that I am a HUGE fan of the CCP (see our earlier posts here and here).  It has made filing of all premarket submissions much easier by facilitating …