Articles to help understand and apply the European Union Medical Device Regulations

Play Celebrity Jeopardy! to learn the European Medical Device Regulation

I grouped celebrities who share a common medical treatment and ask you to classify the device using the new European Union Medical Device Regulation rules. I give the answers, you respond in the form of a question.

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The European MDR: learn from my mistakes

The European Union Medical Device Regulation protects patient safety and encourages medical device innovation. Companies that embrace the opportunity will succeed; companies that complain will not. Either way, society benefits.

This article is to help you learn the MDR using a product I co-invented and commercialized in 2004, demonstrating how to apply modern MDR regulations. I describe that product in another article. This article helps you learn from my mistakes.

Risk Control & Risk-Benefit

4 minute read.

This article explains Risk / Benefit analysis and Risk Control methods using performances of Harry “The Hat” Anderson, a comedian, actor, and magician famous for visual humor.

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Make state of the art medical devices

7 minute read.

The new European Union Medical Device Regulation will protect patient safety by requiring healthcare companies to make products that are “state of the art,” a term that’s easily misunderstood. This law is best explained with an example from cars,  comparing today’s state of the art with to the 1980’s television series Knight Rider, where David Hasselhoff fought crime in a talking, self-driving car.

Van Halen, Brown M&Ms, and Quality Assurance

6 minute read.

In the 1980’s, the rock-band Van Halen caused $85,000 damage to their dressing room after finding brown M&M’s in their bowl of “munchies” before a concert. The facts behind that story can help medical-device companies become more efficient and pass any FDA or ISO Quality-System audit. This article shows you how, with the lead singer of Van Halen, David Lee Roth, as your guide.

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Reduce Risk As Far As Possible

In 1987, the hip-hop group Public Enemy asked: “How low can you go?” In 2017, Europe responded, “As Far As Possible.” This article discusses how to reduce medical device risks as low as possible.

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How to apply Risk Management

6 minute read.

In 1986 the space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing the crew and a high-school teacher that had trained with the astronauts. In this article, I travel back in time to reanalyze the Space Shuttle program using modern methods for Risk Management.

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The MDR Big Picture

The MDR big picture

7 minute read.

Any company that wants to sell medical devices in the European Union must follow new EU Medical Device Regulations. These new regulations were motivated by EU citizens demanding safer healthcare. This article is the EU-MDR big picture with links to learn more. Read more

The risk of being biased

3 minute read.
 
Teams resist change because of biases, our tendency to form opinions based on incomplete or inaccurate information. This article explains the nature of our biases and why we resist new regulations in healthcare safety, but the concepts apply to all of us.

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