Our products and operations are subject to extensive government regulation and any failure to comply with applicable requirements could harm our business.
Our medical devices are subject to rigorous regulation and scrutiny by the FDA and other governmental authorities. Government regulation applies to nearly all aspects of our products’ lifecycles, including testing, clinical study, manufacturing, transporting, sourcing, safety, labeling, storing, packaging, recordkeeping, reporting, advertising, promoting, distributing, marketing, and importing or exporting of medical devices and products. In general, unless an exemption applies, a medical device or product must receive regulatory clearance or approval or clearance before it can be marketed or sold. Modifications to existing products or the marketing of new uses for existing products also may require regulatory clearance or approvals, or supplemental approvals. If we are unable to obtain these required marketing authorizations, our ability to commercialize new products will be delayed or adversely impacted.
Regulatory agencies may refuse to grant approval or clearance or disagree with our interpretation of the data, or disagree with our interpretation of the regulatory requirements, such as products that are subject to enforcement discretion or consumer products that do not meet the definition of an FDA-regulated medical device. Furthermore, the FDA and other regulatory agencies could change their policies, adopt additional regulations, or revise existing regulations, each of which could impact how our products are regulated, prevent or delay approval or clearance of devices, or could impact our ability to market a previously cleared, approved, or unregulated device. Our failure to comply with regulatory requirements of the FDA or other applicable regulatory requirements in the United States or elsewhere could subject us to administratively or judicially imposed sanctions. These sanctions could include warning letters, fines, civil penalties, criminal penalties, injunctions, debarment, product seizure or detention, product recalls and total or partial suspension of production, sale and/or promotion. Any of the foregoing actions could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition to any such sanctions for noncompliance described above, commencement of an enforcement proceeding, inspection or investigation could divert substantial management attention from the operation of our business and, as a result, have an adverse effect on our business.
Our operations are subject to environmental, health, and safety regulations that could result in substantial costs.
Our operations are subject to environmental, health, and safety laws, and regulations concerning, among other things, the generation, handling, transportation, and disposal of hazardous substances or wastes, the cleanup of hazardous substance releases, and emissions or discharges into the air or water. We may incur in the future expenditures in connection with environmental, health and safety laws, and regulations. New laws and regulations, violations of these laws or regulations, stricter enforcement of existing requirements, or the discovery of previously unknown contamination could require us to incur costs or could become the basis for new or increased liabilities that could be material.
We could be exposed to significant liability claims if we are unable to obtain insurance at acceptable costs and adequate levels or otherwise protect ourselves against potential product liability claims.
The design, manufacture and marketing of medical device products involve certain inherent risks. Manufacturing or design defects, unanticipated use of our products, or inadequate disclosure of risks relating to the use of our products could lead to negative publicity, government investigation, litigation or other adverse events. These events could lead to recalls or safety alerts relating to our products (either voluntary or required by the FDA, or similar governmental authorities in other countries) and could result, in certain cases, in the removal of a product from the market. A recall could result in significant costs, as well as negative publicity and damage to our reputation that could reduce demand for our products. In some circumstances, such adverse events could also cause delays in new product clearance and commercialization plans.
The testing, manufacture, marketing and sale of medical devices entail the inherent risk of liability claims or product recalls. Product liability insurance is expensive and, if available, may not be available on acceptable terms at all periods of time. A successful product liability claim or product recall could inhibit or prevent the successful commercialization of our products, cause a significant financial burden on us, or both, which in either case could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
