MAUDE Adverse Event Report: PFIZER CONSUMER HEALTH CARE THERMACARE LOWER BACK & HIP; DISPOSABLE PACK, HOT

Lot Number G12294

Device Problem Expiration Date Error (2528)

Patient Problem No Known Impact Or Consequence To Patient (2692)

Event Date 10/01/2016

Event Type  Injury  

Manufacturer Narrative

Root cause of open pouches is equipment; specifically ultrasonic seal technology is not as forgiving in relation to the foil material as heat seal technology (external machine factors such as process variability and film material variability (wavy, wrinkles, thickness, surlyn conditions, etc.) affect the ability to keep the required film/product alignment and even pressure of the anvils across the sealing areas thus, compromising sealing integrity).In general, the leak defect rate has remained unchanged despite several reliability and engineering initiatives to improve the sealing performance.Capa: the (site name) consumer site will purchase and install three (3) new heat seal flow wrapper machines for b and m production lines.The existing bosch flow wrapper equipment used today employs ultrasonic sealing technology for both, the long and cross seals of the thermacare pouches.This technology has proven to be unreliable, difficult to maintain and not flexible enough to accommodate for material variances.The highest consumer complaint for the site is related to pouch sealing defects and the product never worked due to an open pouch.These complaints are directly related to failures during the sealing process.The new machines will utilize heat seal in the cross direction of the film/pouch to achieve a more consistent hermetic seal through the manufacturing runs with the added benefits of easier set up and operation.Complaint handling for open pouches: complaints received at the site in the global complaint database related to open pouch in the subclasses of (but not limited to) never worked, squeeze tube, did not last long enough and too cool will not be investigated in qts.These complaints will be evaluated in the global complaint database to ensure they are due to "open pouch" and the pouch sealing defect.No additional investigation will be required for these complaints based on the following: released batches meet criteria for pouch leaks at time of release.

Event Description

Expired device used [expired device used].Case narrative: this is a spontaneous report from a contactable consumer.This consumer reported similar events for herself and another patient.This is the second of two reports.A (b)(6) years-old male patient started to receive thermacare heatwrap (thermacare lower back & hip), device lot number g12294, expiration date jun2015, via an unspecified route of administration from an unspecified date for back pain.The patient medical history was not reported.There were no concomitant medications.The patient used an expired thermacare heat wrap for lower hip and back and the wrap did not heat up on (b)(6) 2016.The patient was hospitalized due to use an expired thermacare heat wrap and did not receive any treatment.The outcome of event was unknown.Additional information received from product quality complaint (pqc) group included investigation results.Root cause of open pouches is equipment; specifically ultrasonic seal technology is not as forgiving in relation to the foil material as heat seal technology (external machine factors such as process variability and film material variability (wavy, wrinkles, thickness, surlyn conditions, etc.) affect the ability to keep the required film/product alignment and even pressure of the anvils across the sealing areas thus, compromising sealing integrity).In general, the leak defect rate has remained unchanged despite several reliability and engineering initiatives to improve the sealing performance.Capa: the (site name) consumer site will purchase and install three (3) new heat seal flow wrapper machines for b and m production lines.The existing bosch flow wrapper equipment used today employs ultrasonic sealing technology for both, the long and cross seals of the thermacare pouches.This technology has proven to be unreliable, difficult to maintain and not flexible enough to accommodate for material variances.The highest consumer complaint for the site is related to pouch sealing defects and the product never worked due to an open pouch.These complaints are directly related to failures during the sealing process.The new machines will utilize heat seal in the cross direction of the film/pouch to achieve a more consistent hermetic seal through the manufacturing runs with the added benefits of easier set up and operation.Complaint handling for open pouches: complaints received at the site in the global complaint database related to open pouch in the subclasses of (but not limited to) never worked, squeeze tube, did not last long enough and too cool will not be investigated in qts.These complaints will be evaluated in the global complaint database to ensure they are due to "open pouch" and the pouch sealing defect.No additional investigation will be required for these complaints based on the following: released batches meet criteria for pouch leaks at time of release.The severity of pouch leaks is s1 - no harm to customer.Complaints related to pouch seal have been thoroughly investigated and root cause is well understood.Leak rate for the current technology is about 2000 ppm.Capa is in-place to replace the ultrasonic sealers with heat seal technology.This document will be attached to the complaint record in the global database and closed with no further action taken.The root cause for never worked, too cool, did not last long enough and squeeze tube complaint sub classless is due to a pouch (primary packaging) that did not seal completely (open pouch).An open pouch will expose the wrap to air before the consumer gets it, causing it to be spent and not heating up.An open pouch is caused by equipment; specifically ultrasonic technology.The corrective action is to purchase and install three (3) new heat seal flow wrapper machines in both production lines.The severity of pouch leaks is s1 no harm to customer.Follow-up (21apr2017): follow-up attempts are completed.No further information is expected.Follow-up (08nov2019): new information received from a product quality complaint group included: investigation results, and case upgraded to a reportable mdr.Company clinical evaluation comment: based on the available information, the patient was hospitalized due to use of an expired thermacare heat wrap and did not receive any treatment.No adverse event was associated with the use of the device.A causal relationship between the device and the event cannot be ruled out.The review of the released batches meet the criteria for pouch leaks at time of release.No further investigations or actions is suggested at this time.Comment: based on the available information, the patient was hospitalized due to use of an expired thermacare heat wrap and did not receive any treatment.No adverse event was associated with the use of the device.A causal relationship between the device and the event cannot be ruled out.The review of the released batches meet the criteria for pouch leaks at time of release.No further investigations or actions is suggested at this time.

• Brand Name: THERMACARE LOWER BACK & HIP
• Type of Device: DISPOSABLE PACK, HOT
• Manufacturer (Section D): PFIZER CONSUMER HEALTH CARE; 1231 wyandotte drive; albany GA 31705
• Manufacturer Contact: stella pietrafesa ; 235 e42nd street; new york, NY 10017
• MDR Report Key: 9412496
• MDR Text Key: 186608073
• Report Number: 1066015-2019-00512
• Device Sequence Number: 1
• Product Code: IMD
• Combination Product (y/n): N
• Reporter Country Code: US
• PMA/PMN Number: K953442
• Number of Events Reported: 1
• Summary Report (Y/N): N
• Report Source: Manufacturer
• Source Type: consumer
• Reporter Occupation: Other
• Type of Report: Initial
• Report Date: 02/24/2017

1 Device was Involved in the Event

1 Patient was Involved in the Event

• Is this an Adverse Event Report?: Yes
• Is this a Product Problem Report?: Yes
• Device Operator: Lay User/Patient
• Device Expiration Date: 06/01/2015
• Device Lot Number: G12294
• Initial Date Manufacturer Received: Not provided
• Initial Date FDA Received: 12/04/2019
• Was Device Evaluated by Manufacturer?: Device Not Returned to Manufacturer
• Is the Device Single Use?: Yes
• Is This a Reprocessed and Reused Single-Use Device?: No
• Type of Device Usage: Initial
• Patient Sequence Number: 1
• Patient Outcome(s): Hospitalization; Required Intervention
• Patient Age: 58 YR