Abbott, Merck Like FDA's Plan To Amass More Summary Adverse Event Reports, But P&G Says There's A Better Way

While mammoth manufacturers Abbott Laboratories and Merck & Co. – along with device industry advocacy groups – are supporting the US agency's proposed Voluntary Malfunction Summary Reporting Program, Procter & Gamble Co. is urging FDA to think twice. In comments to the agency, P&G's principal scientist says the program, which will allow firms to submit Medical Device Reports to FDA quarterly in a bundled format for a wide array of products, should be scrapped and replaced with an 11-year-old congressional mandate that aimed to boost summary reports.