Each year, thousand of Americans are harmed by defective medical devices. To help better protect patients from harm, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has created a new system to more effectively monitor the safety of medical devices in the United States.
The Global Unique Device Identification Database (GUDID) will work by supplying each approved medical device with a number and code that can be referenced. Reported problems can then be documented, tracked, and seen by the public by accessing the FDA database. This will allow doctors to scan devices before implanting them into patients to see if there are any warnings or recalls associated with the device model.
The first round of devices that must meet the new standards have a deadline of Sept. 24 for compliance. Guidelines on how to access the database, edit submissions, and register devices were posted to the FDA’s website last month.
Officials say they hope the new system will allow a faster and more efficient means of addressing problems with medical devices.
The Indianapolis personal injury lawyers with Stewart & Stewart Attorneys are hopeful the new system is successful in protecting the health of Americans for years to come.