In mid-December of 2011, following the recommendation of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Medical Device Patient Safety Act.  According to the GAO, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) lack of oversight of medical devices once they are on the market has created a high-risk situation for consumers.

Under the existing framework, the FDA has limited ability to monitor medical devices once they are cleared under the 510(k) process.  As a result, according to the GAO, faulty products are not identified quickly enough.  The Act proposes a two-step change in order to meet two goals, as identified by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa): (1) to improve the recall process and (2) to enhance post-market surveillance tools.

The Act's first change would require the FDA to track and trend medical device recall data.  Currently, the FDA has the authority to track recall data, but is not required to do so.  Under the Act, a program to routinely and systematically assess "(1) information submitted during a device recall and (2) information regarding a correction or removal of a device" would be created. Additionally, the FDA would be required to "(1) assess information submitted to proactively identify strategies for mitigating health risks presented by defective or unsafe devices and (2) develop explicit criteria of assessing whether the recall was done effectively."  This charge appears to give the FDA tremendous freedom in determining what constitutes an effective recall.

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