The FDA recently conducted an inspection of a company in California, Orthopedic Alliance, and the inspection results are posted on the FDA site. The company was found to not be in conformity with the "current good manufacturing practice requirements of the Quality System regulation." The violations included failure to establish and maintain procedures for implementing corrective and preventative actions and failure to establish and maintain procedures for control and distribution of the finished devices.
Here's an excerpt of the letter:
During an inspection of your firm located in Murrieta, California, on July 20, 2011, through September 23, 2011, investigators from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that your firm manufactures various orthopedic implant devices, including the SC Total Hip System and the SC Ceramic Ball Heads. Under Section 201(h) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), 21 U.S.C. § 321(h), these products are devices because they are intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or they are intended to affect the structure or function of the body.
This inspection revealed that these devices are adulterated within the meaning of Section 501(h) of the Act (21 U.S.C. § 351(h)), in that the methods used in, or the facilities or controls used for, their manufacture, packing, storage, or installation are not in conformity with the current good manufacturing practice requirements of the Quality System regulation found at Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 820. We received a response from Mr. Arnold Neves, Jr., dated September 30, 2011, concerning our investigator's observations noted on the Form FDA 483, List of Inspectional Observations, that was issued to your firm. We address this response below, in relation to each of the noted violations. These violations include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Failure to establish and maintain procedures for implementing corrective and preventive action (CAPA), as required by 21 CFR 820.100(a).
For example, your firm's General Counsel Representative stated that there was no corrective and preventive action procedure.
We reviewed your firm's response and conclude that it is not adequate. Your firm stated that two of its employees will be attending a CAPA workshop in early October, 2011, and that the CAPA procedure will be implemented in sixty days. However, neither procedures nor additional procedural details have been submitted for our review. In addition, your firm did not provide a rationale for requiring up to sixty days to complete this corrective action.
2. Failure to establish and maintain procedures for receiving, reviewing, and evaluating complaints by a formally-designated unit, as required by 21 CFR 820.198(a).
http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2012/ucm297260.htm
