Devices

Medtronic HeartWare ‘Dear Doctor’ Letter

Medtronic sent an 11/29 “Dear Doctor” letter with important safety information related to the potential hardening of the controller driveline cover of its HeartWare Ventricular Assist system. “Over time,” the letter says, “the driveline cover may become hardened, creating difficulty or an inability to slide the cover back to access the driveline to controller connector. Access to the driveline connector may be delayed, which may result in patient harm from a prolonged pump stop, if an urgent driveline connection or controller issue needs to be addressed.”

The letter says the issue is due to plasticizer loss and may be accelerated by environmental factors.

Medtronic reports that between 1/3/2017 and 9/15/2022 it received 33 complaints reporting a hardened and/or stuck driveline cover. It says that in the complaints, the issue had occurred after multiple years of use. No critical harms or deaths were attributed to the issue. The company provided patient management recommendations.

Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton’s responses on vaccines, contraception and abortion medication during her 9/24 Senate confirmation hearing raise concerns that ideology could influence her decision-making if she takes over the agency, MSNBC senior medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta said Friday. Gupta was particularly critical of Overton’

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton emerged from her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday (see earlier story) without resolving questions about whether she has enough Republican support to advance — and with a rapidly narrowing window for confirmation before the midterm elections. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing provided few

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA has classified Boston Scientific's recall of its Imager II Angiographic Catheters as Class I because a manufacturing problem could cause catheter tips to degrade and detach, potentially resulting in life-threatening complications. The agency announced the Class I classification 9/25, updating an Early Alert it issued

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome

FDA has approved Roche’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for reducing the risk of relapse in adults and children aged 2 and older with frequently relapsing or steroid-dependent, childhood-onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who are in remission. The expanded approval covers the use of the CD20-directed antibody beyond its existing

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Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome