US FDA proposes changes to MedWatch program for healthcare products

By Stewart Eisenhart, Emergo Group

US drug and medical device market regulators are proposing changes to voluntary and mandatory post-market reporting forms used by consumers and healthcare providers for adverse events related to medical products.

The Food and Drug Administration is seeking comment through July 1, 2015 on changes to three reporting components of its MedWatch system:

• Form 3500 for voluntary reporting by healthcare professionals of serious adverse events and product issues for medical devices, drugs, some biologicals and cosmetic products
• Form 3500B for voluntary reporting by consumers for drugs, medical devices, nutritional products and cosmetics
• Form 3500A for mandatory reporting by, in the case of medical devices, manufacturers and importers as well as reprocessors of single-use devices of any adverse events, deaths or serious illnesses or injuries related to their devices

The FDA’s proposed changes to these forms consist primarily of formatting modifications, but healthcare providers and device manufacturers should nonetheless be aware of pending changes to these reports – especially the mandatory Form 3500A, obviously – to ensure ongoing compliance with US postmarket reporting requirements.

Stewart Eisenhart covers medical device regulatory affairs for Emergo Group.

The opinions expressed in this blog post are the author’s only and do not necessarily reflect those of MassDevice.com or its employees.

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