Over the past year a number of medical device sterilization facilities that use ethylene oxide, or EtO, have shut down as state regulators have raised concerns about their potential environmental impact. On this week’s podcast, executive editor Shawn M. Schmitt chats with senior reporter Danny Al-Faruque about what’s happened to date, as well as where this EtO issue is headed in the future.

Device makers should make sure they have adequate resources to analyze quality data they take in so they can prevent the recurrence of nonconforming products, processes and procedures. That’s just one nugget of advice from former FDA investigations branch director Ricki Chase, who explains why collecting and properly handling such data is critical to complying with agency expectations in this Medtech Insight Q&A interview.

Concerns expressed by stakeholders during a two-day FDA meeting on the use of ethylene oxide (EtO) to sterilize medical devices was of most interest our online readers last month. EtO was also the focus of several other highly read stories – including worries by industry about device shortages and news that device maker Teleflex expects to lose millions because an EtO facility shut down. Meanwhile, the FDA’s announcement that it would push back its deadline for delivering a draft version of a new rule that will harmonize its Quality System Regulation with ISO 13485 also garnered significant interest. Here are November’s 10 most popular US regulation and policy stories from Medtech Insight.

In the only device-related warning letter released by the US FDA this week, a manufacturer of surgical trays and kits was cited for quality systems violations.

Device makers that build bridges with US FDA investigators will have an easier go of things during facility inspections, says Ricki Chase, a former FDA investigations branch director. By doing this, firms can extend that trust to the agency as a whole. Check out our full Q&A with Chase here.

Enforcement of the False Claims Act is always a hot-button topic for industry. That’s because fines for FCA violations can be costly, reaching into the billions of dollars. On this week’s podcast, executive editor Shawn M. Schmitt chats with senior reporter Elizabeth Orr about some of the more important FCA cases from 2019.