The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued its weekly regulatory update for stakeholders. You can read the FDA regulatory update for stakeholders below.
September 20, 2024
Dear Colleague,
While the FDA continues to focus on protecting the public’s health, using science to guide our decisions, and facilitating access to critical medical products, we also recognize the work of our public health partners. As public health advocates, we know that your work to better our country is invaluable. Your partnership, knowledge and engagement in the public health space are appreciated.
If you use tampons during your period (or menstruation), it’s important to know how to use them safely. Consider this important information from the FDA — and please share this information with other people who may use these products.
This draft guidance document provides the FDA’s recommendations on analytical chemistry testing to assess the biocompatibility of medical devices. Chemical characterization is one approach that manufacturers can consider when developing a strategy for the overall biocompatibility assessment of a device.
This guidance provides recommendations for sponsors, investigators, and other interested parties regarding the implementation of decentralized elements in clinical trials. In this guidance, a decentralized clinical trial refers to a clinical trial that includes decentralized elements where trial-related activities occur at locations other than traditional clinical trial sites.
As part of FDA’s Real-World Evidence (RWE) Program, this draft guidance is intended to support the conduct of randomized controlled drug trials with streamlined protocols and procedures that focus on essential data collection, allowing integration of research into routine clinical practice.
This guidance provides recommendations to sponsors submitting chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) data submissions. This guidance describes the options for soliciting early input from CVM and the process for submission of components of the CMC technical section.
This guidance provides recommendations to sponsors who are planning global clinical development programs for drugs intended to treat cancer, on improving the evidence obtained from one or more multiregional clinical trials (MRCTs) intended to support a marketing application. This guidance expands on principles described in FDA’s existing guidance documents related to this topic by providing additional recommendations for the planning, design, conduct, and analysis of an oncology MRCT that may facilitate FDA’s assessment of applicability of the data to the U.S. population with the cancer being investigated and to U.S. medical practice.
The FDA is issuing this guidance to assist persons submitting cigarette plans for cigarette packages and cigarette advertisements, as required by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA), amending the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (FCLAA). This guidance provides recommendations related to 21 CFR 1141 and the FCLAA requirements regarding the submission of cigarette plans for cigarette packages and cigarette advertisements.
FDA is issuing this guidance to help small businesses understand and comply with FDA’s final rule, “Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements,” which establishes new required cigarette health warnings for cigarette packages and advertisements. The final rule implements a provision of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA) that requires FDA to issue regulations requiring color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking to accompany new textual warning statements. The Tobacco Control Act amends the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (FCLAA) to require each cigarette package and advertisement to bear one of the new required warnings.
You can search for documents using key words, and you can narrow or filter your results by product, date issued, FDA organizational unit, type of document, subject, draft or final status, and comment period.
Are you a health care professional and want to learn more about the current state of the opioid crisis and what we can do to prevent drug overdoses and reduce deaths? Presenters will provide the latest information on the drug overdose crisis, how government agencies are working together to help health care professionals, and resources you can use today in your practice, including free training.
Cancer survival has improved in recent decades, increasing the importance of studying the impact of anti-cancer treatments on quality of life such as on gonadal function and fertility. Incidence of cancer is also increasing in younger patients who are in their reproductive years. Many of these patients receive treatments that could produce reproductive toxicity.
Public meetings involving the FDA: Upcoming events, past meetings, meeting materials, and transcripts
About Us
The Stakeholder Engagement Staff resides within the Office of the Commissioner and falls under the Office of External Affairs. We aim to build stronger relationships with health professional organizations, consumer groups, trade associations, patient advocacy organizations, think tanks/academia, and other stakeholders, in order to better inform our policy making process, identify policy hurdles or stakeholder misconceptions, and create strategic collaborations. For more information, please contact us at: FDAStakeholderEngagement@fda.hhs.gov.
USDOL Issues Comprehensive Employer Guidance on Long COVID
The United States Department of Labor (USDOL) has issued a comprehensive set of resources that can be accessed below for employers on dealing with Long COVID.
Supporting Employees with Long COVID: A Guide for Employers
The “Supporting Employees with Long COVID” guide from the USDOL-funded Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) and Job Accommodation Network (JAN) addresses the basics of Long COVID, including its intersection with mental health, and common workplace supports for different symptoms. It also explores employers’ responsibilities to provide reasonable accommodations and answers frequently asked questions about Long COVID and employment, including inquiries related to telework and leave.
The Long COVID Accommodation and Compliance webpage from the USDOL-funded Job Accommodation Network (JAN) helps employers and employees understand strategies for supporting workers with Long COVID. Topics include Long COVID in the context of disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), specific accommodation ideas based on limitations or work-related functions, common situations and solutions, and questions to consider when identifying effective accommodations for employees with Long COVID. Find this and other Long COVID resources from JAN, below:
Long COVID, Disability and Underserved Communities: Recommendations for Employers
The research-to-practice brief “Long COVID, Disability and Underserved Communities” synthesizes an extensive review of documents, literature and data sources, conducted by the USDOL-funded Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) on the impact of Long COVID on employment, with a focus on demographic differences. It also outlines recommended actions organizations can take to create a supportive and inclusive workplace culture for people with Long COVID, especially those with disabilities who belong to other historically underserved groups.
Long COVID and Disability Accommodations in the Workplace
The policy brief “Long COVID and Disability Accommodations in the Workplace” explores Long COVID’s impact on the workforce and provides examples of policy actions different states are taking to help affected people remain at work or return when ready. It was developed by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) as part of its involvement in USDOL’s State Exchange on Employment and Disability (SEED) initiative.
Understanding and Addressing the Workplace Challenges Related to Long COVID
The report “Understanding and Addressing the Workplace Challenges Related to Long COVID” summarizes key themes and takeaways from an ePolicyWorks national online dialogue through which members of the public were invited to share their experiences and insights regarding workplace challenges posed by Long COVID. The dialogue took place during summer 2022 and was hosted by USDOL and its agencies in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Surgeon General.
The USDOL-published “Working with Long COVID” fact sheet shares strategies for supporting workers with Long COVID, including accommodations for common symptoms and resources for further guidance and assistance with specific situations.
This USDOL motion graphic informs workers with Long COVID that they may be entitled to temporary or long-term supports to help them stay on the job or return to work when ready, and shares where they can find related assistance.
A Personal Story of Long COVID and Disability Disclosure
In the podcast “A Personal Story of Long COVID and Disability Disclosure,” Pam Bingham, senior program manager for Intuit’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Tech team, shares her personal experience of navigating Long COVID symptoms at work. The segment was produced by the USDOL-funded Partnership on Employment and Accessible Technology (PEAT) as part of its ongoing “Future of Work” podcast series.
Per the notice below, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued its annual report on the performance of state Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs).
Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs) investigate and prosecute Medicaid provider fraud and patient abuse or neglect. OIG is the Federal agency that oversees and annually approves federal funding for MFCUs through a recertification process. This new report analyzed the statistical data on annual case outcomes—such as convictions, civil settlements and judgments, and recoveries—that the 53 MFCUs submitted for Fiscal Year 2023. New York data is as follows:
Outcomes
Investigations1 - 556
Indicted/Charged - 9
Convictions - 8
Civil Settlements/Judgments - 28
Recoveries2 - $73,204,518
Resources
MFCU Expenditures3 - $55,964,293
Staff on Board4 - 257
1Investigations are defined as the total number of open investigations at the end of the fiscal year.
2Recoveries are defined as the amount of money that defendants are required to pay as a result of a settlement, judgment, or prefiling settlement in criminal and civil cases and may not reflect actual collections. Recoveries may involve cases that include participation by other Federal and State agencies.
3MFCU and Medicaid Expenditures include both State and Federal expenditures.
4Staff on Board is defined as the total number of staff employed by the Unit at the end of the fiscal year.
GAO Issues Report on Medicaid Managed Care Service Denials and Appeal Outcomes
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report on federal use of state data on Medicaid managed care service denials and appeal outcomes. GAO found that federal oversight is limited because it doesn't require states to report on Medicaid managed care service denials or appeal outcomes and there has not been much progress on plans to analyze and make the data publicly available. To read the GAO report on federal use of state data on Medicaid managed care service denials and appeal outcomes, use the first link below. To read GAO highlights of the report on federal use of state data on Medicaid managed care service denials and appeal outcomes, use the second link below. https://www.gao.gov/assets/d24106627.pdf (GAO report on federal use of state data on Medicaid managed care service denials and appeal outcomes) https://www.gao.gov/assets/d24106627_high.pdf (GAO highlights on federal use of state data on Medicaid managed care service denials and appeal outcomes)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its latest update on its regulatory activities in the Medicare program. While dentistry is only minimally connected to the Medicare program, Medicare drives the majority of health care policies and insurance reimbursement policies throughout the country. Therefore, it always pays to keep a close eye on what CMS is doing in Medicare. To read the latest CMS update on its regulatory activities in Medicare, use the link below. https://www.cms.gov/training-education/medicare-learning-network/newsletter/2024-03-14-mlnc