FDA to Bolster its Regulation of Diagnostic Testing

With the passage of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) on July 9, 2012, Congress expanded the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authority to safeguard and advance public health. Exercising such authority, on July 31, 2014, the FDA notified Congress of its plan to publish a proposal to expand its oversight of laboratory developed tests (LDTs). LDTs are diagnostic tests, which are designed, manufactured, and used within a single laboratory. Previously, LDTs certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) could exist without FDA oversight. This exception existed because LDTs were primarily used for rare diseases. However, advances in molecular biology allowed laboratories to produce a broader range of LDTs, applicable to more common illnesses. The former exception has been touted by some as fostering laboratory independence, allowing for exponential innovation and accuracy in diagnostics. However, others like Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) claim that the newly implemented FDA oversight has been “long-overdue.”

As a result of support from individuals like Senator Markey, more than 11,000 LDTs, housed in 2,000 different laboratories, may fall into the FDA’s expanded regulations. The FDA has cited LDTs for illnesses like Lyme disease and cancer, as justification for the new regulatory framework. By subjecting LDTs to such scrutiny, the FDA’s stated goal is to eliminate faulty tests that produce inaccurate diagnoses and cause patients to seek unnecessary treatment, or delay vital treatment. However, opponents of the new regulation contend that the prior independence allowed laboratories to diagnose and measure disease with far greater accuracy than ever before.

The FDA’s regulatory expansion will take place over nine years and will first be applied to what are deemed the riskiest LDTs. However, some tests will remain excluded from FDA regulations. Such LDTs include those which treat rare diseases and those for which there is no FDA-approved test.

In its announcement, the FDA stated its intent to publish guidelines detailing how laboratories can notify the FDA regarding their current manufacturing and use of LDTs. Once these guidelines are released, laboratories that currently utilize LDTs should notify the FDA about their tests in order to avoid legal repercussions. The FDA will allow currently available LDTs to continue during the reviewing process, in order to prevent any disruptions.

If your laboratory utilizes LDTs or has any questions regarding the FDA’s new regulations, please contact an experienced health care attorney at 248-544-0888 or email at wapc@wachler.com. Wachler & Associates will continue to keep you updated on breaking regulatory changes and other health care news.