On November 1, 2018, the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published an audit report finding that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) policies and procedures were “deficient for addressing medical device cybersecurity compromises.” (A copy of OIG’s complete report is available here and Report in Brief is available here.) Specifically, the OIG found that FDA’s policies and procedures were “insufficient for handling postmarket medical device cybersecurity events” and that FDA had not adequately tested its ability to respond to emergencies resulting from cybersecurity events in medical devices. Although the OIG report “did not identify evidence that FDA mismanaged or responded untimely to a reported medical device cybersecurity event,” it noted that “existing policies and procedures did not include effective practices for responding to these events.”

Citing cybersecurity of medical devices as a top management challenge for HHS, OIG conducted an audit to evaluate FDA’s plans and processes for timely communicating and addressing cybersecurity compromises in the medical device postmarket phase. Based on OIG’s audit of certain FDA internal policies, procedures, and website, as well as interviews with FDA staff, OIG recommended that FDA take the following actions: (i) continually assess the cybersecurity risks to medical devices and update its plans and strategies; (ii) establish written procedures and practices for securely sharing sensitive information about cybersecurity events with key stakeholders; (iii) enter into a formal agreement with federal agency partners; and (iv) establish and maintain procedures for handling recalls of medical devices vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. Although the OIG acknowledged that FDA has recently implemented some of its initial recommendations, it emphasized that its findings and recommendations with regard to FDA’s cybersecurity policies and procedures remain valid.

On the same date OIG published its report, FDA’s Suzanne B. Schwartz, M.D., M.B.A., published a post on FDA Voices asserting that the OIG report is an incomplete and inaccurate picture of FDA’s oversight of medical device cybersecurity. The post addresses FDA’s ongoing efforts to improve medical device cybersecurity over the past five years, including entering into a memorandum of agreement between FDA and the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and publishing a new premarket cybersecurity guidance update in October 2018, which we wrote about in a previous blog here. FDA’s post also highlights FDA’s other partnerships with industry that aim to increase awareness of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and related concerns.

FDA reiterated that its regulatory approach to cybersecurity threats “is not static,” and reconfirmed its commitment to “work with the medical device industry and other stakeholders to proactively address emerging cybersecurity threats to medical devices in a way that puts patient safety first.” FDA has announced that it will hold a public Workshop on January 29-30, 2019 to discuss the newly released draft guidance on cybersecurity in premarket submissions. Instructions for registration are available on FDA’s website here.

In response to the OIG’s report, FDA will likely continue to develop new cybersecurity policies, initiatives, and guidance. Stakeholders in the medical device industry should monitor these developments and be prepared to address any such changes in policy or regulation. Meanwhile, regulated industry should consider reviewing FDA’s current cybersecurity guidance documents and assess whether its internal controls, quality systems, policies, or procedures adequately address potential cybersecurity risks or threats or could be improved.