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What is an advisory committee?

Advisory committees provide independent expert advice to the FDA on broad scientific topics or on certain products to help the agency make sound decisions based on the available science. Advisory committees make non-binding recommendations to the FDA, which generally follows the recommendations but is not legally bound to do so. Please see, "Advisory Committees Give FDA Critical Advice and the Public a Voice," for more information.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2019-N-3793]

General Hospital and Personal Use Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting; Establishment of a Public Docket; Request for Comments

AGENCY:  Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:  Notice, establishment of a public docket; request for comments.

SUMMARY:  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announces a forthcoming public advisory committee meeting of the General Hospital and Personal Use Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee (the Committee).  The general function of the Committee is to provide advice and recommendations to FDA on regulatory issues.  The meeting will be open to the public.  FDA is establishing a docket for public comment on this document.

DATES:  The meeting will be held on November 6 and 7, 2019, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

ADDRESSES:   DoubleTree by Hilton, Washington DC North/Gaithersburg, Grand Ballroom, 620 Perry Pkwy., Gaithersburg, MD 20877.  The hotel’s telephone number is 301-977-8900.  https://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/maryland/doubletree-by-hilton-washington-dc-north-gaithersburg-GAIGWDT/index.html.  Answers to commonly asked questions including information regarding special accommodations due to a disability, visitor parking, and transportation may be accessed at:  https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees/about-advisory-committees/common-questions-and-answers-about-fda-advisory-committee-meetings.  You may submit comments as follows:

FDA is establishing a docket for public comments on this meeting.  The docket number is FDA-2019-N-3793.  The docket will close on December 6, 2019.  Submit either electronic or written comments on this public meeting to the docket by December 6, 2019.  Please note that late, untimely filed comments will not be considered.  Electronic comments must be submitted on or before December 6, 2019.  The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at the end of December 6, 2019.  Comments received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submission) will be considered timely if they are postmarked or the delivery service acceptance receipt is on or before that date.  

Comments received on or before October 21, 2019, will be provided to the Committee.  Comments received after that date will be taken into consideration by FDA.  In the event that the meeting is cancelled, FDA will continue to evaluate any relevant applications or information, and consider any comments submitted to the docket, as appropriate.

You may submit comments as follows:

Electronic Submissions

Submit electronic comments in the following way:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal:  https://www.regulations.gov.  Follow the instructions for submitting comments.  Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov will be posted to the docket unchanged.  Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment does not include any confidential information that you or a third party may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone else’s Social Security number, or confidential business information, such as a manufacturing process.  Please note that if you include your name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.

• If you want to submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner detailed (see “Written/Paper Submission” and “Instructions”).

Written/Paper Submissions

Submit written/paper submissions as follows:

• Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper submissions):  Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

• For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, as confidential, if submitted as detailed in “Instructions.”

Instructions:  All submissions received must include the Docket No. FDA-2019-N-3793 for “The General Hospital and Personal Use Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting; Establishment of a Public Docket; Request for Comments.”  Received comments those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), will be placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as “Confidential Submissions,” publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

• Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission.  You should submit two copies total.  One copy will include the information you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states “THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.”  The FDA will review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in its consideration of comments.  The second copy, which will have the claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov.  Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff.  If you do not wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your comments and you must identify this information as “confidential.”  Any information marked as “confidential” will not be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law.  For more information about FDA’s posting of comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at:  https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.

Docket:  For access to the docket to read background documents or the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in the heading of this document, into the “Search” box and follow the prompts and/or or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Patricio Garcia, Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 66 Rm. G610, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, patricio.garcia@fda.hhs.gov, (301) 796-6875, or FDA Advisory Committee Information Line, 1-800-741-8138 (301-443-0572 in the Washington, DC area).  A notice in the Federal Register about last minute modifications that impact a previously announced advisory committee meeting cannot always be published quickly enough to provide timely notice.  Therefore, you should always check the Agency’s website at https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees and scroll down to the appropriate advisory committee meeting link, or call the advisory committee information line to learn about possible modifications before coming to the meeting.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Agenda:  On November 6 and 7, 2019, the committee will discuss the topic of industrial ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization of medical devices and its role in maintaining public health as well as the risks of infection with reprocessed duodenoscopes.  Subject matter of the panel meeting will include potential methods and expert assessment of how to reduce EtO emissions to the environment from medical device sterilization processes without compromising assurance of sterility or effective processing of medical devices.  The panel will also discuss recommendations to reduce the risk of infection from reprocessed duodenoscopes.  

FDA intends to make background material available to the public no later than 2 business days before the meeting.  If FDA is unable to post the background material on its website prior to the meeting, the background material will be publicly available at the location of the advisory committee meeting and the background material will be posted on FDA’s web site after the meeting.  Background material will be available at https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-calendar.  Scroll down to the appropriate advisory committee meeting link.

FDA plans to provide a live webcast of the November 6 and 7, 2019, meeting of the General Hospital and Personal Use Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee.  While CDRH is working to make webcasts available to the public for all advisory committee meetings, there are instances where the webcast transmission is not successful; staff will work to re-establish the transmission as soon as possible.  The link for the webcast is available at:  https://collaboration.fda.gov.  Webcast information, including the website address for the webcast, are the following, for their respective days:

November 6, 2019:  http://fda.yorkcast.com/webcast/Play/eeed34f9b1f448f9a1f6ad05a4b98d7d1d

November 7, 2019:  http://fda.yorkcast.com/webcast/Play/49c5a76d5d1c422d8da028441ab557de1d

Procedure:  Interested persons may present data, information, or views, orally or in writing, on issues pending before the Committee.  Written submissions may be made to the contact person on or before October 22, 2019.  Oral presentations from the public will be scheduled on November 6, 2019, between approximately 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. and from 3:50 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. and on November 7, 2019, between approximately 1:20 p.m. and 1:50 p.m.  Those individuals interested in making formal oral presentations should notify the contact person and submit a brief statement of the general nature of the evidence or arguments they wish to present, the names and addresses of proposed participants, and an indication of the approximate time requested to make their presentation on or before October 16, 2019.  Time allotted for each presentation may be limited.  If the number of registrants requesting to speak is greater than can be reasonably accommodated during the scheduled open public hearing session, FDA may conduct a lottery to determine the speakers for the scheduled open public hearing session.  The contact person will notify interested persons regarding their request to speak by October 17, 2019.

Persons attending FDA’s advisory committee meetings are advised that FDA is not responsible for providing access to electrical outlets.

For press inquiries, please contact the Office of Media Affairs at fdaoma@fda.hhs.gov or 301-796-4540.

FDA welcomes the attendance of the public at its advisory committee meetings and will make every effort to accommodate persons with disabilities .  If you require accommodations due to a disability, please contact Artair Mallett, at Artair.Mallett@fda.hhs.gov or 301-796-9638 at least 7 days in advance of the meeting.

FDA is committed to the orderly conduct of its advisory committee meetings.  Please visit our website at https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees/about-advisory-committees/public-conduct-during-fda-advisory-committee-meetings.

Notice of this meeting is given under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. app. 2).

Dated:  August 29, 2019.

Lowell J. Schiller,

Principal Associate Commissioner for Policy.

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