Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Medical Devices; Device Tracking

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES:

Submit written comments (including recommendations) on the collection of information by March 18, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

To ensure that comments on the information collection are received, OMB recommends that written comments be submitted to https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function. The OMB control number for this information collection is 0910-0442. Also include the FDA docket number found in brackets in the heading of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Amber Sanford, Office of Operations, Food and Drug Administration, Three White Flint North, 10A-12M, 11601 Landsdown St., North Bethesda, MD 20852, 301-796-8867, PRAStaff@fda.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In compliance with 44 U.S.C. 3507, FDA has submitted the following proposed collection of information to OMB for review and clearance.

Medical Devices; Device Tracking—21 CFR Part 821

OMB Control Number 0910-0442—Extension

Section 519(e)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360i(e)(1)), as amended by Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (Pub. L. 105-115), provides that FDA may require by order that a manufacturer adopt a method for tracking a class II or III medical device, if the device meets one of the three following criteria: (1) The failure of the device would be reasonably likely to have serious adverse health consequences, (2) the device is intended to be implanted in the human body for more than 1 year (referred to as a “tracked implant”), or (3) the device is life-sustaining or life-supporting (referred to as a “tracked l/s-l/s device”) and is used outside a device user facility.

Tracked device information is collected to facilitate identifying the current location of medical devices and patients possessing those devices, to the extent that patients permit the collection of identifying information. Manufacturers and FDA (where necessary) use the data to: (1) Expedite the recall of distributed medical devices that are dangerous or defective and (2) facilitate the timely notification of patients or licensed practitioners of the risks associated with the medical device.

In addition, the regulations include provisions for: (1) Exemptions and variances; (2) system and content requirements for tracking; (3) obligations of persons other than device manufacturers, e.g., distributors; (4) records and inspection requirements; (5) confidentiality; and (6) record retention requirements.

Respondents for this collection of information are medical device manufacturers, importers, and distributors of tracked implants or tracked l/s-l/s devices used outside a device user facility. Distributors include multiple and final distributors, including hospitals.

The annual hourly burden for respondents involved with medical device tracking is estimated to be 615,380 hours per year. The burden estimates cited in tables 1 through 3 are based on the approximate number of device tracking orders, 12 annually. FDA estimates that approximately 22,000 respondents may be subject to tracking reporting requirements.

Under § 821.25(a) (21 CFR 821.25(a)), device manufacturers subject to FDA tracking orders must adopt a tracking method that can provide certain device, patient, and distributor information to FDA within 3 to 10 working days. Assuming one occurrence per year, FDA estimates it would take a firm 20 hours to provide FDA with location data for all tracked devices and 56 hours to identify all patients and/or multiple distributors possessing tracked devices.

Under § 821.25(d) manufacturers must notify FDA of distributor noncompliance with reporting requirements. Based on the number of audits manufacturers conduct annually, FDA estimates it would receive no more than one notice in any year, and that it would take 1 hour per incident.

Under § 821.30(c)(2) (21 CFR 821.30(c)(2)), multiple distributors must provide data on current users of tracked devices, current device locations, and other information, upon request from a manufacturer or FDA. FDA has not made such a request and is not aware of any manufacturer making a request. Assuming one multiple distributor receives one request in a year from either a manufacturer or FDA, and that lists may be generated electronically, the Agency estimates a burden of 1 hour to comply.

Under § 821.30(d) distributors must verify data or make required records available for auditing, if a manufacturer provides a written request. FDA's estimate of the burden for distributor audit responses assumes that manufacturers audit database entries for 5 percent of tracked devices distributed. Each audited database entry prompts one distributor audit response. Because lists may be generated electronically, FDA estimates a burden of 1 hour to comply.

In the Federal Register of November 5, 2020 (85 FR 70634), FDA published a 60-day notice requesting public comment on the proposed collection of information. No comments were received.

FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as follows:

The burden estimate for this information collection has not changed since the last OMB approval.