When you have a new car that develops a “safety” issue i.e. braking, steering, airbags, wiring, engine cooling, unintended acceleration etc, the auto dealer reports the problems to the manufacturer, who by law, must report the issue to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration within five days. But when a patient has a problem with
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This August 26, 2011 blog on Gateway FDA is written for the medical device industry and its lawyers. The FDA recently issued new draft guidelines so manufacturers understand how to comply with the controversial 510(k) fast-track approval for marketing of their medical device. The new guidelines replace the 1997 guidelines for 510(k) submission. Included is
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  As a Pelvic Surgeon/Urogynecologist, Dr. Margolis helps women suffering from incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse and a variety of surgical problems involving the female pelvis. He has done mesh removal surgery from his office, Bay Area Pelvic Surgery, in the San Francisco Bay area. Share this:

AUGUST 25, 2011 – Synthetic surgical mesh is implanted into women for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence and now Public Citizen is calling for a ban citing the needless exposure of patients to serious, life-altering complications. Synthetic mesh used for pelvic surgeries, and hernia repair in men, is made of a petroleum-based
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This study, Vaginal Mesh for Prolapse: A Randomized Controlled Trial, was published in the August 2010 issue of the journal, Obstetrics & Gynecology. A three month double-blind trial recruited 65 women from three academic sites – Washington Hospital Center, (Washington, D.C.) Stanford University and Yale University. All of the women suffered from pelvic organ prolapse
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Jim Shull’s story started in September 2005. He had passed a kidney stone and went to see a urologist who ordered a CT scan to see if there were any more stones. The urologist looked at the X-ray and told Jim he had a hernia. “I don’t have a hernia I feel fine, I know
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Florida Today reports that while the FDA considers tougher regulations over medical devices, that decision will come too late for four women from Brevard County, Florida. The four say they were damaged by mesh device implants to treat pelvic floor problems. “For six weeks, I was walking around with the equivalent of barbed wire inside
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This excellent article by Morningstar reminds us that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been reviewing the regulatory process that allows most medical devices to make their way into the marketplace and the agency plans to have new changes in place by October. This is sparked by the July release of the Institute of
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The FDA is pushing back on an Institute of Medicine recommendation that the fast-track approval process for medical devices is fatally flawed and should be replaced, reports Reuters. FDA’s Jeffrey Shuren, director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, which oversees devices, said the 510(k) process should not be eliminated, but “we are open
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Allies of the medical device industry criticized an Institute of Medicine report, to be released July 29, that says the approval process for a wide range of medical devices such as hip implants, hospital pumps, surgical mesh and external heart defibrillators is deeply flawed, is injuring patients and causing numerous injuries, reports the New York
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