For the second time in four years, the FDA has issued a draft guidance for cybersecurity in premarket applications, just one of several actions undertaken recently by the U.S. federal government in connection with cybersecurity.
Ossio Inc. has received FDA clearance for Ossiofiber suture anchors used to fix soft tissue to bone in the shoulder, foot and ankle. This is the most recent of clearances for the company’s intelligent bone regeneration technology which began in 2019 as a possible alternative to permanent fixation implants for the foot and ankle alone.
Merit Medical Systems Inc. received FDA 510(k) clearance for the Scout Bx delivery system, which enables the placement during stereotactic and MRI-guided biopsy of a reflector to guide breast surgery. The delivery system works with the company’s Scout reflector, a wire-free radar localization device.
The U.S. CMS has suspended the effective date of the radiation oncology (RO) model for bundled care under the Medicare outpatient prospective payment system. The development stems from congressional legislation that pushed the start date back until next year, giving stakeholders who are opposed to the program more time to press their case with Congress and the agency.
Investigators at Boston Children's Hospital have demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infection of blood monocytes and lung macrophages in the lung could kill the cells via pyroptosis, increasing inflammation and leading to severe COVID-19.
The spike in U.S.-based telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic was greeted with cheers among advocates of the technology, but the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has advised the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to take a closer look at the benefits of telehealth for Medicaid beneficiaries.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee met April 5 to review the user fee agreements for the drug and device centers, but one member of the committee was quite vocal about the ever-growing volume of user fees. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said the pace with which user fees are increasing suggests that the FDA is growing increasingly independent of Congress.
Even as many in the U.S. are looking for the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra reinforced expectations April 5 that he will continue the emergency declaration into the summer, if not beyond. When asked during a Senate Finance Committee budget hearing if he saw the emergency ending this summer, Becerra declined to give a date, but reiterated his commitment to give stakeholders at least 60 days’ notice.
Ascensia Diabetes Care Holdings AG aims to reduce the pain associated with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) just a bit with a new cost structure for Senseonics Holdings Inc.’ Eversense E3 CGM. The system, which lasts a ground-breaking six months without replacement, received FDA clearance in February.
3Spine Inc. has raised $33 million in an oversubscribed series C private offering for a phase II clinical study to assess what it calls “the first total joint replacement” for the lower back. This brings total private investment in the Balancedback total joint replacement to $50.3 million, largely due, said 3Spine CEO Marc Peterman, to “tremendous clinical outcomes and a mountain of benchtop research.”