MassMEDIC News


		February 2007

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Sen. Edward Kennedy hosted a meeting for MassMEDIC's Board of Directors with FDA Commissioner\ Andrew von Eschenbach (right) on January 27th. MassMEDIC Directors raised policy issues related to the reauthorization of the Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act (MDUFMA.)

MassMEDIC's FDA Working Group Chair, Pam Weagraff of Quintiles Consulting, meets with Commissioner von Eschenbach, following the January 27th briefing at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Senator Kennedy Hosts Meeting for FDA Commissioner – MassMEDIC Board of Directors
MassMEDIC’s Policy on MDUFMA Reauthorization Highlighted

For the fourth time since MassMEDIC’s founding in 1996, Senator Edward Kennedy hosted a special meeting between incumbent FDA Commissioner and the Board of Directors. FDA’s commissioner, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, met with Directors at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government on Saturday, January 27th. The meeting featured a discussion of MDUFMA reauthorization, the agency’s postmarket surveillance presentations, CBER operations, laboratory test legislation, and the importance of user fees and full funding for the FDA.

MassMEDIC President Tom Sommer kicked off the meeting with a briefing on the medical device industry in Massachusetts, followed by presentations by several directors and members including: Pam Weagraff, Quintiles; Sheila Hemeon-Heyer, Boston Scientific; Lisa Lopez, Haemonetics Corporation; Dan Bracco of Cytyc Corporation; and David Fleming, Genzyme Corporation.

MassMEDIC’s newly-approved policy statement on MDUFMA reauthorization served as the backdrop for much of the discussion. Senator Kennedy urged MassMEDIC to support the completion of negotiations on MDUFMA, so his Senate Committee could take up the legislation this spring.