Under an Order issued by the FCC, non‑compliant voice service providers (185!) have been removed from the Commission’s Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD) by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. The RMD was established by the FCC in 2020 to help promote transparency regarding the compliance of voice service providers with Commission rules intended to reduce illegal robocalls made to consumers.
To remain listed on the FCC’s RMD, current and new service providers were required to submit to the Commission by February 2024 their robocall mitigation plans and to update any previously submitted plans to include their commitment to respond within 24 hours to any traceback request given to them.
The service providers who have been delisted from the RMD reportedly failed to provide the required information, even after the Commission extended the deadline to December 31, 2024.
According to a news item posted to the website of the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS), the FDA recently sent warning letters to three different medical device companies. In at least one case, a company was cited for promoting the use of its devices to treat medical issues that are outside the scope of the device’s authorization.
In other cases, the companies were cited for their failure to implement current good manufacturing practices (CGMP) in connection with some of their products.
The companies reportedly cited by the FDA include Mectronic Medicale, a manufacturer of devices used to heat tissue to alleviate pain and muscle spasms, Visgeneer, which develops blood glucose monitoring systems, and Oasis Medical, a California-based drug company.
In a recent update to its webpage “PFAS in Medical Devices,” the FDA reports the findings of a 2021 review of the safety of fluoropolymers used in medical devices, conducted in partnership with ECRI, a Department of Health and Human Services-designated Patient Safety Organization. The joint study reportedly collected data from over 1800 health care provider organizations around the country and also reviewed over 1750 published and peer-reviewed scientific articles.
According to the FDA, the review found “no conclusive evidence of patient health issues” in connection with the use of the PFAS polytetrafluoroethylene (PFTE) as a material.
In further support of its findings, the FDA notes that many fluoropolymers are comprised of molecules that are too large to cross through cell membranes and…”are very unlikely to cause toxicity to patients.” Further, the agency says fluoropolymers have “unique properties” that are essential to device functionality, and that “no other materials (currently) exist that can perform the critical roles of fluoropolymers in these devices.”
Of course, amateur radio operators have always been at the forefront of efforts to help maintain essential communications during hurricanes and other natural disasters. And after Hurricane Erin, Josh Johnson, the ARRL’s Director of Emergency Management, reminded amateur radio operators to evaluate their options and make plans for how they can best support ongoing communications during hurricanes to come.
“These early storms remind us that now is the right time for amateur radio operators to begin thinking about how they can help, if and when these storms begin to ramp up and cause damage,” says Johnston in an article posted to the ARRL website. “We know that conventional communications can fail, and amateur radio will be there to fill the gap.”
Johnston’s advice to amateur radio operators is to check their equipment now, including radios, antennas, and power supplies, and also to confirm the local emergency frequencies to be used during communications outages. In addition, the ARRL posts weekly updates on the National Hurricane Center’s VoIP Hurricane Prep Net to provide operators with situational updates.