Single-use device reuse
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
House-Senate conferees agree to language in the FY 2000 agriculture appropriations bill that would require FDA to allocate $1 mil. to study the reprocessing of single-use medical devices, conferee Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) reports Sept. 23. The provision was a part of the Senate ag approps measure but Durbin notes that conferees opted to use language from his stand-alone bill (S 1542), the "Reprocessed Single Use Medical Device Patient Safety Amendments," rather than what originally had been proposed. The conference committee has also agreed to set FDA appropriations at approximately $1.19 bil. -below the level approved by the House but above that passed by the Senate. The conference committee has stood in recess since Sept. 22, stalled by disagreements over agricultural issues. No date has been set for resuming the conference