A Medicare coverage analysis (MCA) for clinical trials evaluates which tests, procedures, and interventions will be associated with a clinical trial. This analysis results in a budget and plan for invoicing third party payers and sponsors. Clinical trials for devices differ from interventional trials for drugs in a few key ways that can impact the process […]

When investigators embark on designing, writing, and initiating the clinical trial, their responsibilities are just beginning. The FDA calls these investigators “sponsor-investigators (SIs)”. A sponsor-investigator is an individual who both initiates and conducts an investigation, and under whose immediate direction the investigational drug is administered or dispensed. In other words, in an investigator-initiated trial, the […]

An FDA audit or inspection can occur at any time, and sometimes with very little advance warning. The FDA conducts both announced and unannounced inspections of clinical investigator sites, typically under the following circumstances: to verify the accuracy and reliability of data that has been submitted to the agency; as a result of a complaint […]

The FDA issued guidance in November aimed at enhancing diversity and encouraging inclusivity in medical research, specifically in the development of medical products. FDA Commissioner Stephan M. Hahn, M.D., wrote that “in order to promote public health, it is important that people who are in clinical trials represent the populations likely to use the potential medical […]

The FDA recently released a draft guidance policy categorizing investigational device exemption (IDE) devices. The guidance was developed to assist the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in determining whether or not an IDE device should be covered (reimbursed) by CMS. The guidance has significant implications for research sites and investigators who are responsible […]