Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, head of the FDA’s medical device division, is planning to be in Orlando, Fla., in May for the latest in a series of town hall-style public meetings.
Shuren, who leads the FDA’s Center for Devices & Radiological Health, will address the watchdog agency’s “strategic priorities” for fiscal 2010 and then take questions from the audience, according to a press release.
“The objective of this Town Hall meeting is to engage in a dialogue about issues that are of importance to the public,” according to the release. “FDA is interested in engaging in discussions about issues that are of importance to the medical device community. CDRH wishes to obtain feedback/ideas for facilitating two-way communication between CDRH and the medical device industry.”
More details about the meeting, slated for 8 a.m. until noon at the Sheraton Orlando Downtown hotel, can be found on the FDA’s website.
In a visit to Boston last summer for a similar meeting, Shuren said President Barack Obama has given the agency free rein to police the medical device industry as it sees fit.
“I have had absolutely no pressure or pushback from the administration. Even the commissioner of FDA [Dr. Margaret Hamburg], has, I think much to her credit, let the center do its own assessment, come back with its own recommendations,” he said. “I can tell you the things that we want to put out for the public have her full support in moving forward.”
