The Food and Drug Administration’s ability to police new medical products might be strengthened if Democrats get their way.
They are in the process of trying to pass a bill that would disallow companies from manufacturing products that are substantially similar from previous items that were recalled or if they are in the process of being taken off the market.
Democrats point to reports of women sustaining internal injuries due to the usage of transvaginal implants that resulted in an alert put out by the FDA. Bloomberg News was able to trace those items’ history all the way back to 1989, when a similar mesh was recalled due to safety issues.
Currently, the FDA has a system in place called the 510(k) system, which lets companies bypass the human testing phase of a product if a similar item is already available. The new bill aims to close this loophole, with supporters likening the new rules to how subsequent models of automobiles aren’t allowed to arrive on the market with a previously discovered defect.
As a car accident attorney in San Francisco, I think this comparison is apt. If a product has a flaw and is recalled, it’s important that the problem is fixed before subsequent items reach consumers. I’ll be watching what transpires closely as a San Francisco personal injury attorney.