WARNING LETTER
ITG-Medev Inc
MARCS-CMS 562975 —
September 07, 2018
Recipient:
Recipient Name
Alan M. Dishman
ITG-Medev Inc
San Francisco
,
CA
94132
United States
Issuing Office:
San Francisco District Office
United States
Office of Medical Device and Radiological Health Operations
Division3/West
19701 Fairchild
Irvine, CA  92612
WARNING LETTER
CMS # 562975
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE
OVERNIGHT DELIVERY
September 7, 2018
Alan M. Dishman, President
ITG-MEDEV, Inc.
(b)(6)
San Francisco, California 94132
Dear Mr. Dishman:
During an inspection of your firm located in San Francisco, California, on June 1 through June 6, 2018, an investigator from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that your firm manufactures Omiderm, a wound dressing product. Under section 201(h) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) [21 U.S.C. § 321(h)], this product is a device because it is intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or to affect the structure or any function of the body.
This inspection revealed this device is adulterated within the meaning of section 501(h) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 351(h)] in that the methods used in, or the facilities or controls used for, its manufacture, packing, storage, or installation are not in conformity with the current good manufacturing practice requirements of the Quality System regulation found at Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 820.
We received a response from you on June 11, 2018, concerning our investigator’s observations noted on the Form FDA 483, Inspectional Observations (FDA 483), that was issued to your firm. We address this response below, in relation to each of the noted violations. These violations include, but are not limited to, the following:
1.
You failed to ensure processes whose results cannot be fully verified by subsequent inspection and test have been validated according to established procedures, as required by 21 CFR 820.75(a).
In approximately February 2018, your firm began using a new contract sterilizer to sterilize your Omiderm sterile wound dressing devices. Your new contract sterilizer is performing the sterilization process over a
(b)(4)
period at
(b)(4)
to achieve a
(b)(4)
, whereas your former contract sterilizer performed the sterilization over an approximate
(b)(4)
process to achieve the same
(b)(4)
. You stated to our investigator your new contract sterilizer is not able to perform the validation studies to ensure with a high degree of assurance that its process will consistently meet your specification.
We have reviewed your response, dated June 11, 2018, and acknowledge your commitment to having another third-party contract laboratory conduct the sterilization validation on behalf of your contract sterilizer. Your response also states you will provide us with the validation results; to date, we have not received any additional response or corrective action from you. Additionally, your response does not indicate how you will ensure a third-party contract laboratory will be able to validate a sterilization process conducted at a different facility. For example, your response does not indicate whether the third-party laboratory will conduct the validation at the contract sterilizer, or if the third-party laboratory will simply be reviewing the results of the testing. Your response also does not indicate which party will ensure the equipment used is installed correctly and properly calibrated; which party will determine the process parameters, such as
(b)(4)
and time; or which party will determine how many lots or challenges should be repeated to assure the results will consistently meet your specifications.
2.
Your firm failed to document acceptance activities, as required by 21 CFR 820.80(e).
You provided your “Finished Product Acceptance Standard Operating Procedure,” QA.SOP.004, Revision 1, dated April 15, 2003, to our investigator during the recent inspection, which outlines your firm’s procedure for the acceptance and release of your Omiderm sterile wound dressing device. Activities required by this procedure include reviewing the device master record (DMR), inspecting samples of the finished product, and reviewing quality control data. You also provided “Omiderm Finished Product Acceptance Policy,” POL.006, Revision 2, dated December 17, 2004. This procedure requires you to review device manufacturing documents, including sterilization records, and the “Final Product Release Master Release Form.” However, you are not implementing either of these procedures, and you are not documenting the acceptance or release of finished product. You explained to our investigator that you perform an inspection of the incoming finished product, but you are not documenting this inspection.
You explained to our investigator the above procedures were created when you were manufacturing your product, but now your product is contract manufactured, and that many of your procedures no longer apply to your current operations. Once you have established appropriate procedures for final acceptance activities, as required by 21 CFR 820.80(d), you must document these acceptance activities to fulfill the requirement of 21 CFR 820.80(e).
We have reviewed your response, dated June 11, 2018, and acknowledge you have created a new form for documenting acceptance of finished devices, “Omiderm Receiving Product Approval Card.” However, this new document does not include the approval, including the date and signature of the approver, as required by 21 CFR 820.40, nor have you provided a corresponding procedure for finished device acceptance, and therefore we cannot evaluate the adequacy of your corrective action at this time.
3.
Your firm failed to establish procedures for implementing corrective and preventive action, as required by 21 CFR 820.100(a).
Specifically, your firm’s “Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) Policy,” POL.007, Revision 4, dated June 1, 2006, states your firm will document your CAPA activities to ensure the action is effective and does not adversely affect the finished product, including the investigation and implementation of the corrective and preventive actions. Your firm failed to implement this procedure in that you did not document your CAPA activities in response to nonconforming product. You explained to our investigator you received at least three shipments of your Omiderm sterile wound dressing devices that did not meet your specifications. You stated you conducted an investigation, and made the determination that your contract sterilizer was causing your product to not meet specification, and therefore you changed contract sterilizers in approximately February 2018. However, you failed to document this investigation and subsequent corrective and preventive actions.
We have reviewed your response, dated June 11, 2018, and acknowledge your statement that you would develop a new CAPA procedure. Your response also states you have “always” followed your CAPA procedure “yet without the paperwork.” This response is not adequate. Per Subpart J of the regulation, Corrective and Preventive Action, manufacturers are required to establish and maintain procedures for implementing corrective and preventive actions, including investigating the cause of the nonconformities, identifying actions needed to correct and prevent recurrence of nonconforming product, and implementing procedures needed to correct and prevent the identified quality problem. Per 21 CFR 820.100(b), all of these activities are required to be documented.
4.
Your firm failed to establish procedures to control product that does not conform to specified requirements, as required by 21 CFR 820.90(a).
You stated to our investigator during the current inspection you received at least three shipments of your Omiderm sterile wound dressing that did not meet your specifications. Our investigator was able to observe product with irregular edges and which measured smaller than what was printed on the product label. You provided your “Omiderm Products Non-conformance Investigation and Disposition Standard Operating Procedure,” QA.SOP.005, Revision 2, effective date March 6, 2007. Per your procedure, your firm is required to investigate how the non-conformance occurred, review the results of this investigation, and document these activities. You stated to our investigator that you conducted the investigation, but did not document it.
5.
Your firm failed to establish procedures to ensure that all purchased or otherwise received product and services conform to specified requirements, as required by 21 CFR 820.50
. Your firm’s “Omiderm Purchasing Control Policy,” POL.004, Revision 2, dated December 17, 2004, states “[v]endors shall be evaluated for past performance in supplying materials and components that meet existing acceptance criteria. If no historical data is available, the vendor will be evaluated based on technical knowledge of the material, component or product…” However, your firm has not documented the evaluation of your suppliers and contractors, including your contract manufacturer and your contract sterilizer. During the recent inspection, you stated you chose your current contract manufacturer because it was “the only company I could find to do contract manufacturing.” Similarly, you chose your previous contract sterilizer because it was “the only sterilizer I could find to do the job.” You were unable to provide evidence during the inspection that you had evaluated your contractors and suppliers based on their ability to meet specified requirements, nor had you established records of acceptable suppliers and contractors, such as approved vendor lists or quality agreements.
We have reviewed your response, dated June 11, 2018, and acknowledge you have created an approved vendor list, and will develop a procedure for this process. However, your vendor list does not include the date the document was approved, or a signature of the approving official, as required by 21 CFR 820.40. Further, to date we have not received your procedure for purchasing controls, and therefore we cannot assess the adequacy of your firm’s corrections at this time.
6.
Your firm failed to maintain complaint files, as required by 21 CFR 820.198(a).
Your firm’s procedure “Customer Complaint/Product Failure Investigation Standard Operating Procedure,” QA.SOP.006, Revision 1, dated April 16, 2003, requires that complaint investigations be documented on a “Complaint Investigation Report” form, with data such as the details of the complaint, dates and results of the investigation, and corrective action taken. During the recent inspection, you described two complaints to our investigator, neither of which you documented.
a.
You described one complaint you received from a doctor in
(b)(4)
alleging a patient acquired an infection after using Omiderm. You explained that you traveled to
(b)(4)
and watch the physician apply Omiderm to a patient, and determined the physician was not washing patients’ wounds prior to applying Omiderm to the wound, causing the infections. You did not document the receipt of this complaint, which lot number(s) were involved, whether you reviewed the device history record for the product, nor the results of your investigation.
b.
You described a second complaint received from a customer in
(b)(4)
that alleged Omiderm disintegrated upon application. You explained to our investigator that you applied a piece of Omiderm to yourself, from the same lot as the customer in
(b)(4)
, and determined the product worked as it should. However, you did not document the receipt of this complaint, which lot number(s) were involved, whether you reviewed the device history record for the product, nor the results of your investigation.
We have reviewed your response, dated June 11, 2018, and determined your response to be inadequate. Specifically, your response states “I have not had any complaints of any kind from any customers since operating this facility since July 2001;” as discussed above, you described two complaints to our investigator during the recent inspection that you failed to document. You also state in your response that you will establish a complaint form and procedure and complaint file; to date you have not provided evidence these documents have been created.
7.
Your firm failed to establish and maintain procedures for quality audits and conduct such audits to assure the quality system is in compliance with the established quality system requirements and to determine the effectiveness of the quality system, as required by 21 CFR 820.22
. Your “Quality Manual Index,” QA.DOC.005, Revision 2, dated March 18, 2005, Section 2.0, indicates you will conduct quality audits “
(b)(4)
.” You began manufacturing and distributing Omiderm in 2001 when you purchased the company, yet you were unable to provide evidence that you have conducted any quality audits since that time.
We have reviewed your response, dated June 11, 2018, and acknowledge you contacted an outside party to conduct “the necessary audits.” You also stated you will have these completed by August; to date, we have not received additional evidence of corrections, and therefore cannot evaluate the adequacy of your response at this time.
Your firm should take prompt action to correct the violations addressed in this letter.  Failure to promptly correct these violations may result in regulatory action being initiated by the FDA without further notice.  These actions include, but are not limited to, seizure, injunction, and civil money penalties.  Also, federal agencies may be advised of the issuance of Warning Letters about devices so they may take this information into account when considering the award of contracts.  Additionally, premarket approval applications for Class III devices to which the Quality System regulation deviations are reasonably related will not be approved until the violations have been corrected.  Requests for Certificates to Foreign Governments will not be granted until the violations related to the subject devices have been corrected.
Please notify this office in writing within fifteen business days from the date you receive this letter of the specific steps your firm has taken to correct the noted violations, as well as an explanation of how your firm plans to prevent these violations, or similar violations, from occurring again.  Include documentation of the corrections and/or corrective actions (which must address systemic problems) that your firm has taken.  If your firm’s planned corrections and/or corrective actions will occur over time, please include a timetable for implementation of those activities.  If corrections and/or corrective actions cannot be completed within fifteen business days, state the reason for the delay and the time within which these activities will be completed. Your firm’s response should be comprehensive and address all violations included in this Warning Letter.
Your firm’s response should be sent electronically to US Food and Drug Administration, Division 3/West, Office of Medical Devices and Radiological Health Operations, at
ORADevices3FirmResponse@fda.hhs.gov
. If you have questions regarding any issues in this letter, please contact Compliance Officer Jamie M. Bumpas at 214-253-5336, or at
Jamie.bumpas@fda.hhs.gov
.
Finally, you should know that this letter is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of the violations at your firm’s facility.  It is your firm’s responsibility to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations administered by FDA.  The specific violations noted in this letter and in the Inspectional Observations, FDA 483, issued at the close of the inspection, may be symptomatic of serious problems in your firm’s manufacturing and quality management systems.  Your firm should investigate and determine the causes of the violations, and take prompt actions to correct the violations and bring the products into compliance.
Sincerely,
/S/
Shari J. Shambaugh
Program Division Director
Office of Medical Device & Radiological Health
West/Division 3
Content current as of:
09/18/2018