Field Safety Notices about Covidien Valleylab Laparoscopic Electrodes

According to Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices of the Republic of Slovenia (via FOI), this field safety notices involved a device in Slovenia that was produced by Medtronic Ireland Limited.

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
    2016-07-18
  • Event Country
  • Event Source
    AMPMDRS
  • Notes / Alerts
    Data from Slovenia is current through February 2019. All of the data comes from the Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices of the Republic of Slovenia (via FOI), 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 Slovenia.
  • Extra notes in the data
  • Reason
    The purpose of this letter is to advise you that medtronic is recalling specific item codes and production lots of covidien valleylab‘“ laparoscopic electrodes. this field safety corrective action (fsca) is being conducted due to the potential for compromise of the package resulting in a breach of the sterile barrier. the use of products with this packaging defect may increase risk of infection. there have been no reports of serious injury associated with this issue.

Manufacturer

  • Manufacturer Parent Company (2017)
  • Manufacturer comment
    “If our surveillance systems identify a potential performance issue, our personnel promptly evaluate the problem, including, when appropriate, conducting root cause investigations and internal testing to assess whether the product continues to meet specifications and defined performance criteria,” Medtronic told ICIJ in a statement. “In some cases, based on this evaluation, Medtronic may determine that a recall is necessary.” The company said that it communicates with healthcare providers and/or patients and provide recommendations to address such issues. Medtronic noted that these communications can include letters, emails, calls, press releases, physician notifications and social media postings, as well as informing the FDA and other regulators of the actions.
  • Source
    AMPMDRS