2022-17296. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Medical Device Accessories

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is announcing that a proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES:

Submit written comments (including recommendations) on the collection of information by September 12, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

To ensure that comments on the information collection are received, OMB recommends that written comments be submitted to https://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function. The OMB control number for this information collection is 0910-0823. Also include the FDA docket number found in brackets in the heading of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Amber Sanford, Office of Operations, Food and Drug Administration, Three White Flint North, 10A-12M, 11601 Landsdown St., North Bethesda, MD 20852, 301-796-8867, [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In compliance with 44 U.S.C. 3507, FDA has submitted the following proposed collection of information to OMB for review and clearance.

Medical Device Accessories

OMB Control Number 0910-0823—Extension

FDA's guidance document entitled “Medical Device Accessories—Describing Accessories and Classification Pathways” ^[1] is intended to provide guidance to industry and FDA staff about the regulation of accessories to medical devices, to describe FDA's policy concerning the classification of accessories, and to discuss the application of this policy to devices that are commonly used as accessories to other medical devices. In addition, the guidance explains what devices FDA generally considers an “accessory” and describes the processes under section 513(f)(6) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360c(f)(6)) to allow requests for risk- and regulatory control-based classification of accessories.

The FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017 (FDARA) (Pub. L. 115-52) changed how FDA regulates medical device accessories. Specifically, section 707 of FDARA added section 513(f)(6) to the statute and requires that FDA, upon request, classify existing and new accessories notwithstanding the classification of any other device with which such accessory is intended to be used. This means that the classification of an accessory may not be the same as its parent device, depending on the risks of the accessory when used as intended and the level of regulatory controls necessary for reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the accessory. Until an accessory is distinctly classified, its existing classification will continue to apply. This provision does not preclude a manufacturer from submitting a De Novo request for an accessory.

Depending on an accessory's regulatory history, there are different submission types, tracking mechanisms, and deadlines:

(1) Existing accessory types are those that have been identified in a classification regulation or granted marketing authorization as part of a 510(k), premarket approval application (PMA), or De Novo request (approved under OMB control numbers 0910-0120, 0910-0231, and 0910-0844, respectively). Manufacturers with marketing authorization for an existing accessory may request appropriate classification through a new stand-alone premarket submission (Existing Accessory Request). Upon request, FDA is required to meet with a manufacturer or importer to discuss the appropriate classification of an existing accessory prior to submitting a written request. Existing Accessory Requests will be initially tracked as “Q-submissions” (approved under OMB control number 0910-0756). FDA has a statutory deadline of 85 calendar days to respond to an Existing Accessory Request.

(2) New accessory types are those that have not been granted marketing authorization as part of a 510(k), PMA, or De Novo request. Manufacturers may include new accessories into a 510(k) or PMA with the parent device (New Accessory Request). New Accessory Requests will have the same deadline as the 510(k) or PMA. Therefore, new accessory types should follow the applicable Medical Device User Fee Amendments of 2017 deadline for the parent submission. The decision for New Accessory Requests will be separate from the decision for the marketing application.

For both Existing and New Accessory Requests, manufacturers must request proper classification of their accessory in the submission and include draft special controls, if requesting classification into class II. The processes that we use to classify an accessory will be like those used for De Novo requests. If FDA grants the Accessory Request, FDA must issue an order establishing a new classification regulation for the accessory type. If FDA denies the Accessory Request, FDA must issue a letter with a detailed description and justification for our determination.

In the Federal Register of March 16, 2022 (87 FR 14891), FDA published a 60-day notice requesting public comment on the proposed collection of information. No comments were received.

FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as follows:

Table 1—Estimated Annual Reporting Burden ¹

Activity; guidance for industry (GFI) section	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Total annual responses	Average burden per response	Total hours
Existing Accessory Request; GFI VI.A	10	1	10	40	400
New Accessory Request	5	1	5	40	200
Total					600
1  There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection of information.

Based on an evaluation of the information collection, we have reduced the estimated number of existing requests from 15 to 10, and we have reduced the estimated number of new requests from 10 to 5. This adjustment results in an overall reduction to the information collection by 10 responses and 400 hours annually. We believe these adjustments more accurately reflect the current number of requests associated with medical device accessory classifications.

Dated: August 5, 2022.

Lauren K. Roth,

Associate Commissioner for Policy.

Footnotes

1.  The guidance document is available on FDA's website ( https://www.fda.gov/​regulatory-information/​search-fda-guidance-documents/​medical-device-accessories-describing-accessories-and-classification-pathways).