This article was originally posted on our sister blog Inside Medical Devices
Earlier this week, in a plenary vote, the EU Parliament endorsed the texts of the Regulation on Medical Devices (the “Regulation”—latest version available here) and the parallel Regulation on In-Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices (the “IVD Regulation”—latest version available here). This presents a good opportunity to have a closer look at one of the essential questions of the revision of the medical device rules, namely, whether the scope of the Regulation changes in comparison to that of the main Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EEC (the “Directive”). We examine below the changes to the definition of a medical device and whether the Regulation affects borderline determinations.
As discussed in our earlier post, the borderline between medical devices, medicinal products, cosmetics and foods or food supplements is often blurred. The Regulation sheds some additional light on the definition of a medical device and strengthens the Commission’s power in relation to the borderline issues. Nevertheless, important questions continue to exist, for instance in relation to the pharmacological versus physical (or purely chemical) mode of action of a product.
Continue Reading EU Medical Devices Regulation Series: Potential for Easing Borderline Determinations?