Medical devices: reclassification and codification of the absorbable polydioxanone surgical suture. Final rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that it has issued an order in the form of a letter to Ethicon, Inc., reclassifying the absorbable polydioxanone surgical (PDS) suture intended for use in soft tissue approximation, including use in pediatric cardiovascular tissue where growth is expected to occur and ophthalmic surgery, from class III (premarket approval) to class II (special controls). Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, FDA is announcing the availability of the guidance document entitled "Class II Special Controls Guidance Document: Surgical Sutures; Guidance for Industry and FDA," which is immediately in effect as the special control for the PDS suture, but remains subject to public comment and possible future revision under the agency's good guidance practices. The agency is reclassifying this device into class II because new information supplied by the petitioner indicates that special controls, in addition to general controls, will provide reasonable assurance of the safety and effectiveness of the device, and there is sufficient information to establish special controls. Accordingly, the order is being codified in the Code of Federal Regulations. Any firm submitting a premarket notification (510(k)) for a new PDS suture will need to address the issues covered in the special control guidance. However, the firm need only show that its device meets the recommendations of the guidance or in some other way provides equivalent assurances of safety and effectiveness.