[Federal Register: October 10, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 195)] [Notices] [Page 57587-57588] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10oc07-83] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. 2007N-0357] Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act; Notice to Public of Web Location of 2008 Proposed Guidance Development; Establishment of a Public Docket AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the Web location where it will post a list of guidance documents the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) is considering for development. In addition, FDA is establishing a docket where stakeholders may provide comments and/or draft language for those topics as well as suggestions for new or different guidances. DATES: Submit written or electronic comments at any time. ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. Submit electronic comments to http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.fda.gov/dockets/ecomments. Identify comments with the docket number found in brackets in the heading of this document. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah A. Wolf, Center for Devices and Radiological Health (HFZ-215), Food and Drug Administration, 1350 Piccard Dr., Rockville, MD 20850, 240-276-2350. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background During negotiations over the reauthorization of the Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act (MDUFMA), FDA agreed, in return for additional funding from industry, to meet a variety of quantitative and qualitative goals intended to help get safe and effective medical devices to market more quickly. These commitments include annually posting a list of guidance documents that FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) is considering for development and providing stakeholders an opportunity to provide comments and/or draft language for those topics, or suggestions for new or different guidances. This notice announces the Web location of the list of guidances CDRH is intending to work on over the next fiscal year. We note that the agency is not required to issue every guidance on the list, nor is it precluded from issuing guidance documents that are not on the list. The list includes topics that currently have no guidance associated with them, topics where updated guidance may be helpful, and topics for which CDRH has already issued Level 1 drafts that may be finalized following review of public comments. We will consider stakeholder comments as we prioritize our guidance efforts. We also note that CDRH's experience over the years has shown that there are many reasons CDRH staff cannot complete the entire annual agenda of guidances it undertakes. Staff are frequently diverted from guidance development to other activities, including review of premarket submissions or postmarket problems. In addition, the Center is required each year to issue a number of guidances it cannot know about in advance. These may involve newly identified public health issues as well as special control guidance documents that are necessary for the classification of de novo devices. It will be helpful, therefore, to receive comments that indicate the relative priority of different guidance topics to interested stakeholders. The Center expects that the recent initiatives it has taken to streamline and track guidance development will improve its capacity to issue more guidance documents. The posting and the establishment of a docket announced through this notice is one of the ways CDRH hopes to enhance the process. Through feedback from stakeholders, including draft language for guidance documents, CDRH expects to be able to better prioritize and more efficiently draft guidances that will be useful to industry and other stakeholders. FDA intends to update the list each year. FDA invites interested persons to submit comments on any or all of the guidance documents on the list. FDA has established a specific Docket (see docket number found in brackets in the heading of this document) where comments about the list, draft language for guidance documents on those topics, and suggestions for new or different guidances may be submitted. FDA hopes this docket will become an important tool for receiving information from interested parties and for sharing this information with the public. [[Page 57588]] Similar information about planned guidance development is included in the annual agency-wide notice issued by FDA under its good guidance practices (21 CFR 10.115(f)(5)). This CDRH list, however, will be focused exclusively on device-related guidances and will be made available on FDA's Web site prior to the beginning of each fiscal year from 2008 to 2012. II. Request for Comments Interested persons may submit to the Division of Dockets Management (see ADDRESSES) written or electronic comments regarding this document. Submit a single copy of electronic comments or two paper copies of any mailed comments, except that individuals may submit one paper copy. Comments are to be identified with the docket number found in brackets in the heading of this document. Received comments may be seen in the Division of Dockets Management between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Comments submitted to this docket may include draft guidance documents that stakeholders have prepared for FDA's consideration. To access the list of the guidance documents CDRH is considering for development in 2008, visit the FDA Web Site at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/mdufma/guidance/agenda/fy08.html . Dated: October 2, 2007. Jeffrey Shuren, Assistant Commissioner for Policy. [FR Doc. E7-19864 Filed 10-9-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4160-01-S