Today the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule “Use of Symbols in Labeling” allowing the use of stand-alone symbols in medical device labeling, without adjacent explanatory text. The final rule seeks to harmonize the labeling requirements of U.S. and international regulatory bodies with respect to the use of symbols in device labeling.
This final rule is revising the medical device and certain biological product labeling regulations by explicitly allowing graphical representation of information (symbols) in labeling (including labels) without adjacent explanatory text (“stand-alone symbols”). A stand-alone symbol can be used if the symbol has been established as part of a standard developed by a national or international standards development organization (SDO) (referred to as a “standardized symbol”) and such standardized symbol is authorized for stand-alone use in labeling as part of a standard when a symbols glossary is included in the labeling for the medical device.
The FDA also published a new standards-recognition notice that modifies the Agency’s current list of recognized standards containing stand-alone symbols to extend the recognition of six standards and to recognize three new consensus standards containing many more stand-alone symbols.