In vitro diagnostics regulation requires continuous adaptation to technologic innovation. Unfortunately, there is a lack of understanding that such a crucial task should be performed efficiently. Europe has waited 23 years for a new regulation!. Anyway, US is under the same trend. Laboratory developed tests were initially regulated 25 years ago and there are still pending issues in the new draft legislation. If you want to know the details, an article in Clinical Chemistry explains the whole issue.
A quarter of a century after the FDA first asserted regulatory authority over LDTs in a draft guidance document, rules and/or guidance regarding LDT oversight have not been implemented. As such, legal questions regarding MDA authority over LDTs and the FDA draft guidance approach have neither been escalated to nor resolved by the judiciary. In addition, many questions central to this debate have not been answered. Are clinical laboratories manufacturers? Should laboratory devices and procedures be regulated similarly? Are there always clear limits between laboratory operations and the practice of laboratory medicine? Any future LDTregulatory or legislative efforts will need to balance and address these concerns if they are to be successful. It is unlikely that interpretation of current statutes and regulations can fully resolve these issues.
Josep Moscardó, Barcelona landscape
