Medical Devices; Exemption From Premarket Notification; Class II Devices; Powered Patient Transport

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is publishing an order granting a petition requesting exemption from premarket notification requirements for powered patient transport devices commonly known as stairway chair lifts. These devices are used to assist in the transfer of a person with a mobility impairment caused by injury or other disease up and down flights of stairs. This order exempts stairway chair lifts, class II devices, from premarket notification and establishes conditions for exemption for this device that will provide a reasonable assurance of the safety and effectiveness of the device without submission of a premarket notification (510(k)). This exemption from 510(k), subject to these conditions, is immediately in effect for stairway chair lifts. All other devices classified under FDA's powered patient transport regulations, including attendant-operated portable stair-climbing chairs (which are different from wheelchairs) continue to require submission of 510(k)s. FDA is publishing this order in accordance with the section of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act) permitting the exemption of a device from the requirement to submit a 510(k).