Field Safety Notices about Alere Afinion™ 2 Analyzer

According to Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd, this field safety notices involved a device in Netherlands that was produced by Alere Technologies AS.

What is this?

Field safety notices are communications sent out by medical device manufacturers or their representatives in relation to actions that they may be taking in relation to their product that is on the market. These are mainly for health workers, but also for users. They can include recalls and alerts.

Learn more about the data here
  • Type of Event
    Field Safety Notice
  • Date
    2018-03-26
  • Event Country
  • Event Source
    IGJ
  • Event Source URL
  • Notes / Alerts
    The data from the Netherlands is current through October 2018. All of the data comes from Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd, except for the categories Manufacturer Parent Company and Product Classification.
    The Parent Company and the Product Classification were added by ICIJ.
    The parent company information is based on 2017 public records. The device classification information comes from FDA’s Product Classification by Review Panel, based on matches of recall data from the U.S. and the Netherlands.
  • Extra notes in the data
  • Reason
    An error in the software of the alere afinion™ 2 analyzer has been detected.

Device

Manufacturer

  • Manufacturer Parent Company (2017)
  • Manufacturer comment
    “We are in constant communication with regulatory agencies and competent authorities worldwide which allows us to implement global recalls or in-country communication quickly and effectively,” Abbott, which now owns St. Jude Medical told ICIJ in a statement. In addition to sending global notices to physicians worldwide, we also make sure that product advisories are available online and classification of product recalls and product advisories are determined by global regulatory bodies which can impact the timing in any given country. MD companies follow varying regulations in different countries. In come countries software is not regulated so a recall in one country related to software would not be classified as a recall or field action in another. In addition, review cycles within the regulatory process can be different in each country which can impact communication and recall timing. Note published by the authorities from the Netherlands: This message is a warning from the manufacturer. After placing a medical device on the market, the manufacturer is obliged to follow the device and, where necessary, to improve it. When there is a risk for the user, the manufacturer must take action. The manufacturer informs users and the inspection of this action with a warning (Field Safety Notice). See also medical device warnings. This is part of the supervision of medical technology.""Note published by the authorities from the Netherlands: This message is a warning from the manufacturer. After placing a medical device on the market, the manufacturer is obliged to follow the device and, where necessary, to improve it. When there is a risk for the user, the manufacturer must take action. The manufacturer informs users and the inspection of this action with a warning (Field Safety Notice). See also medical device warnings. This is part of the supervision of medical technology.
  • Source
    IGJ