11 February 2019 | By Ana Mulero
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) opened a consultation on Monday to obtain feedback on its proposal to reclassify all spinal implantable medical devices to a higher risk level.
The consultation describes the reasoning behind changing the current Class IIb classification of medium-high risk on spinal implants to Class III under a new classification rule. It comes as part of an effort to align Australia’s regulatory requirements with the new framework of the EU’s medical device regulation (MDR), including device classifications. MDR is set to come into force next year. 
“While the new classification rule in the EU more appropriately reflects the intended use and the risk of medical devices, this paper considers the extent to which a similar approach will be appropriate in the Australian regulatory context, to further our aim of enhancing the smooth functioning of the medical devices market while also achieving high standards of quality, safety and performance,” TGA said.
That;s some good and bad news. TGA going down!