EpiPen Shortage Kids are going back to school all over the country. For many kids, an EpiPen (epinephrine injection) is a necessary addition to their back to school list. Food allergies are an increasing public health concern that affects an estimate...
Paper Based QMS vs EQMS When looking at a document management system, companies have two choices; paper based or electronic. In our experience, companies often tell us that, ‘they have been talking about an EQMS’ for a significant amount of time ...
E.M.M.A. International Consulting Group, Inc. (E.M.M.A. International) a global leader in quality, regulatory, and compliance services for the Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, and Medical Device industries, is pleased to announce the opening of its ne...
The New Frontier in Medical Devices: Will Innovation Drive Cyber Attacks? Wearables That Diagnose by Design We can now peer into our genome and microbiome to assess our individual risk of disease, but soon dynamic data will enhance our ability to cho...
A new bill signed this month by President Trump may extend the options of terminally ill patients who want to use experimental types of drugs to treat their conditions. Traditionally, the FDA had various criteria governing the use of drugs that ha...
Independence Day is a time to celebrate our country with family and friends. July 4th is synonymous with fireworks, swimming and picnics. However, the fun of picnic and barbeque season can also bring on additional opportunities for foodborne bacteria...
Overview The opioid epidemic can be traced back to the late 1990s, when the medical community began to prescribe opioid pain relievers at a higher rate due to the information and reassurance they received from the pharmaceutical companies that patien...
Good afternoon, After a very long and cold wait, Spring is finally here! This is also the time of the year when our team at EMMA International is busy and consumed with our annual Spring conferences and annual meetings. The team and I were in......
What is FSMA? The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2011. This enables the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide oversight, ensure compliance with requirements, and respond effectively t...
Posted by Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist Daily consumers use and consume products that have the potential to harm or enhance their health. Medications, food, and medical devices are all regulated by the Food and Drug Adm...
Posted By: Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist The AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) crisis in the early 1980s had a profound effect on blood donations. The perception that the blood supply was safe changed in the mind of t...
Posted By: Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist Technology and health care have converged in the 21st century under the umbrella of what is known as digital health. What is digital health? The 21st century has seen the convergence o...
Posted By: Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist The deadline for the ISO 13485:2016 transition is fast approaching. In less than a year from now, changes will have to be made in order for companies to keep their certifications. Back...
Posted By: Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist The European Union (EU) published a new Medical Device Regulation in May 2017, giving manufacturers three years before full implementation in 2020. There are several changes in this ne...
Posted By: Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist Medical devices – like we mentioned in last week’s blog – fall into one of three classes: Class I, Class II, and Class III. Class I devices are low risk, and include over-the-cou...
Posted By: Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist The 510(k) Process In alignment with FDA’s overall vision to improve various processes, there will be updates to the 510(k) process this year. Before the updates are mentioned, a bac...
Posted By: Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist Medical device manufacturers have much to think about when it comes to registering a product internationally. Different regions and countries have different standards for registration....
Posted By: Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist February is American Heart Month, according to the American Heart Association. One of the aims of this federally designated month is to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease. Th...
Posted By: Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist 3D printing appears to be a novel technology in popular culture, but it has been around for over three decades. What is novel, however, is its prevalence in modern medicine. What is 3D ...
Posted By: Stephanie Bouzounis, Senior Communications Specialist The first month of 2018 is in the books, and for the Medical Device industry the outlook appears positive. The first big news item is the Medical Device tax. At the start of the year, i...
Happy New Year from EMMA International! Your ‘one stop shop’ for all your quality, regulatory, and compliance needs. The new year brings with it the halo of fresh starts and new opportunities. What hasn’t changed are the usual const...
Hacking of the Healthcare Industry Medical devices are creating new vulnerabilities in the healthcare industry that put patient care and personal data at risk. In recent years, the healthcare industry has been hacked more frequently than the financia...
Public Safety as a Priority In 1983, the FDA implemented a lifetime ban on blood donations from people deemed to be “high risk” for potential HIV infection; this included men who have sex with men (MSM). At the time, HIV transmission and infect...
Wearables That Diagnose by Design We can now peer into our genome and microbiome to assess our individual risk of disease, but soon dynamic data will enhance our ability to choose the most effective medical care. Health related apps, trackers and sof...
Spring conference season is upon us and E.M.M.A. International has just finished an exciting month of conferences with some incredible organizations we work closely with. If you are not familiar with the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA...
E.M.M.A. International Consulting Group, Inc., is proud to be a Silver Sponsor of The Manufacturer’s Association of Central Pennsylvania’s 2017 Annual Event. This year we will be offering one (1) complimentary ticket to the Annual Event to...
Spring is off to a great start for E.M.M.A. International! We are beginning this spring season by offering a new, unique service to those looking to find direction for their quality and regulatory needs. If you’re not sure where you stand with a pr...
MDSAP-What Manufacturers Need to Know In 2014, the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF) launched the Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP) pilot. As of 2017, the MDSAP is in full force and fully operational. This poses the ques...
This is the time of year when many of us tend to retake stock of our homes and lives – we clear the cobwebs, file our taxes, plan our vacations, and generally organize ourselves. So, too, should we reevaluate and organize our company’s status per...
E.M.M.A. International was incredibly pleased to have hosted dozens of regional business leaders and innovators at our headquarters in Farmington Hills this month. Our ‘Meet & Mingle’ events are a great way to stay connected with colleagu...
A recall can make all consumers especially nervous, but for a company issuing such an action, this can be evermore daunting, though it doesn’t need to be. A recall is essentially a removal of a product from the market for a defect or other issue......
President Donald Trump, in his first few weeks in office, has been forging ahead with executive orders, making good on promises made while campaigning. He has signed one such executive order (EO), “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Cos...
Do you want the world to see your dirty laundry? If not, then E.M.M.A. International can help you prepare for the new Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP). MDSAP full implementation is in effect as of January 1, 2017. The Medical Device Sin...
First, E.M.M.A. International would like to wish everyone a wonderful and prosperous new year. However, we know that a new year can also bring new challenges. In 2017, you can: Transition from ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015 Transition from ISO 1348...
On June 15, 2016, the FDA issued its final rule that revised certain medical device and biological labeling regulations. The rule finalizes the FDA’s 2013 proposed rule and affects biologics, IVDs, and medical devices regulated by 21 CFR Parts 660,...
Like many industries, progress within the medical field depends on innovation. This innovation has produced novel technologies and medical device improvements that rely increasingly on data storage, software, networks, and user devices. The scale and...
ISO 13485 is an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard originally developed in the 1990’s, that consists of requirements for a Quality Management System (QMS) for designing and manufacturing medical devices. ISO 13485 is deri...
Within the United States, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death; accounting for over 480,000 deaths each year1. Given the health risks of tobacco use, the FDA has established regulations that aim to reduce its associated morbidi...
A need to have an effective and modern approach for a pharmaceutical Quality Management System (QMS) resulted in the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) developing a new quality system guidance that has the ability to support the regulato...
The quality management system of a medical device manufacturer is important for several reasons, but today we are going to focus on its aims of customer satisfaction and device safety and effectiveness. There are standards in place to achieve each of...
FDA 21 CFR 820 details the regulatory requirements medical device companies must comply with to manufacture and sell medical devices within the U.S. The regulation requires manufacturers to develop and maintain a Quality Management System (QMS) to do...
In 2007, several high-profile drug safety problems triggered Congress to mandate the FDA to develop an active surveillance system, utilizing electronic health data, to improve tracking and analysis of drug safety after drugs reach the market [1]. Dur...
With the release of the Unique Device Identification (UDI) System Final Rule in 2013, manufacturers have been staring down compliance deadlines that are quickly approaching and scrambling to make sense of the new regulations. The backlash of failing ...
In Back to Basics: Complaint Handling – Part I the basic requirements for complaint handling were discussed and we left off at the topic of MDRs. From a high level, a MDR is a post-market surveillance activity required by the FDA to monitor devic...
In today’s fast paced society, innovation and progress are the name of the game, especially in the medical device industry. However, placing so much pressure on the development of new technology puts resolving issues associated with products, alrea...
Imagine, for the last five years you have worked to design a new, low-risk medical device and you are now ready to submit a 510(k) to the FDA for market approval. You do your due diligence to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of your device......
In the past, FDA’s guidance on post approval changes made to New Drug Applications (NDAs), Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs), and Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) has been ambiguous and hindered continuous improvement of pharmaceu...
Since its creation in 2002, the Office of Combination Products (OCP) has been tasked with developing regulations and guidance documents for combination products [1]. A combination product is a product composed of any combination of drug/device, drug/...