11月4日，美國參議員Elizabeth Warren （D-MA）和Patty Murray （D-WA）在一封致FDA官員的信中表示，他們對FDA重新針對某些醫療器械實行漸進式審批制度感到擔憂。

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這封信是寫給FDA代理局長Brett Giroir和醫療器械與放射健康中心（CDRH）主任Jeffrey Shuren的。鑒于此前FDA前局長Scott Gottlieb于2018年告訴參議員，有條件的批準途徑不適用于人用醫療產品，參議員在信中對FDA在器械漸進式批準方面的態度大轉變提出質疑。

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雖然器械的漸進式批準已經討論了多年，但FDA首次正式提出這一途徑是在其2020財年預算說明中。根據該提議，某些器械在證明其安全性和性能以及采取其他風險緩解措施的情況下，可獲得臨時批準上市銷售，但在規定的時間期限后，申請人需根據上市后數據證明產品能夠合理保證其安全性和有效性，然后才能繼續在市場上銷售這類器械產品。

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針對這一提議，Warren和Murray于6月份致函Shuren和時任FDA代理局長的Ned Sharpless，該提案“令人擔憂”，同時指出，“從書面上看，該項"臨時批準"與前局長Gottlieb向國會和公眾保證FDA不會尋求的“有條件批準”幾乎沒有區別。

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負責立法事務的FDA副局長Karas Gross在8月份向參議員們做出回應，解釋說：“FDA對醫療器械的看法在不斷演變。”

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Gross寫道:“這一途徑旨在幫助人們獲得能夠治療或診斷威脅生命或不可逆轉的衰弱性疾病和狀況的醫療器械，并幫助解決尚未滿足的醫療需求，特別是對兒童和其他長期缺醫少藥的少數人群。”

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對此，Warren和Murray表示，他們對FDA的有關說法感到失望，同時還對FDA設想的漸進式批準資格標準以及用于完全批準該途徑下器械的上市后數據的“質量和完整性”感到擔憂。

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此外，參議員們還質疑，如果在臨時批準期限到期后，FDA無法證明臨時批準的器械能夠合理保證其安全性和有效性，那么該機構能夠在多大程度上將這些器械從市場上撤出。

In a letter to top US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials on Monday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) say they are concerned about the agency’s renewed interest in a progressive approval system for certain medical devices.

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The letter, addressed to Acting FDA Commissioner Brett Giroir and Centerfor Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) Director Jeffrey Shuren, questions the agency’s about-face on progressive approvals for devices after former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told senators in 2018 that a conditional approval pathway would not be suitable for human medical products.

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While progressive approvals for devices have been discussed for years, FDA first officially proposed the pathway in its FY2020 budget justification. Under the proposal, certain devices could be marketed under a provisional approval based on a demonstration of safety and performance in addition to other risk mitigations for a three-year period. Afterward, the sponsor would be required to demonstrate a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness based on postmarket data to continue marketing the device.

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In response to the proposal, Warren and Murray sent a letter to Shuren and then-Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless in June calling the proposal "alarming"?and noting that "as written, this 'provisional approval'?seems hardly distinguishable from the 'conditional approval'?that former-Commissioner Gottlieb had assured Congress and the public that the FDA would not pursue."

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FDA Associate Commissioner for Legislative Affairs Karas Gross responded to the senators in August, explaining that, "The agency's views with respect to medical devices have continued to evolve."

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"This pathway is intended to help enable access to medical devices which treat or diagnose life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating diseases and conditions and address unmet medical needs, particularly for children and other small and rare populations that remain perpetually underserved," Gross wrote.

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In response, Warren and Murray say they are "disappointed by FDA's clarification"?and continue to have concerns about the agency’s envisioned eligibility criteria for progressive approval and the "quality and completeness" of the postmarket data that would be used to fully approve devices under the pathway.

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The senators also question how well the agency would be able to remove provisionally approved devices from the market if they are unable to demonstrate a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness after the provisional approval period expires.