Just released as of June 25, 2014 this NBRG Consensus Paper for the Interpretation and Application of Annexes Z in EN ISO 14971:2012 is finally available. Be forewarned that the document is not yet adopted by the NBRG, which can only be done at the next Meeting in October 2014. Hopefully it will be adopted at that meeting. I will check in with my NBRG Risk Management Working Group contacts to find out if they know more about that issue.
But let’s take this chance to review a little about the document and the history of the EN ISO 14971:2012 Annex Z’s. Future posts will get into more details. The following 3 paragraphs come straight from the introduction of the document as the Working Group summarizes the situation really well. I happen to know a couple of these working group members personally and I know they have a very good handle on the situation and they have provided some very good background.
In October 2010, the regular review of ISO 14971:2007 which is the basis of EN ISO 14971:2009 was closed by a broad majority of votes confirming the existing status and the wide-spread acceptance of this standard in the medical devices community, including competent authorities. In November 2010, the European Commission raised a formal objection against the use of several harmonized standards, including EN ISO 14971, followed by an in-depth assessment of the coverage of the Essential Requirements of the Medical Device Directives (90/385/EEC, 93/42/EEC and 98/79/EC) by these standards.
As a result of these objections, the Annexes Z to EN ISO 14971 were modified, resulting in EN ISO 14971:2012. This amendment of the EN ISO 14971 standard did not modify the normative parts of ISO 14971:20071. The Annexes Z describe the extent of presumption of conformity that can be based on application of the normative requirements of ISO 14971 alone. The “content deviations”, expressed in the revised Annexes Z, between ISO 14971:2007 and the Medical Device Directives have been commented by many experts in the field of risk management and resulted in diverging interpretations from different stakeholders (e.g. manufacturers, notified bodies, competent authorities).
This document has been prepared as a Notified Body Consensus Paper by a working group headed by the NBRG Vice Chair, with representatives from several European Notified Bodies and industry associations COCIR, Eucomed, EDMA and ZVEI. The paper aims to provide a practical interpretation of these “content deviations” to the Medical Device Directives and give guidance as to how to implement the risk management requirements. The work consolidates prior publications of various sources and is intended to facilitate common understanding between industry and Notified Bodies.
If you would like further info on the consensus document and some history please check out the previous posts below (Latest to Oldest):