REGULATORY AFFAIRS: Year 2000 may cause problems for medical devices.

Some medical devices and scientific laboratory equipment may experience problems on January 1, 2000, if their computer systems, software applications, or embedded chips use two-digit rather than four-digit fields to represent the year. These systems are unable to distinguish the year 2000 from the year 1900. Consequently, the US government has set up a web site to provide information on the Year 2000 status of biomedical equipment administered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Government's Chief Information Officers Council Subcommittee on the Year 2000. This site is intended to give product users in health care facilities and research laboratories and other interested parties a single comprehensive resource for information about the Year 2000 compliance of biomedical equipment. To be Year 2000 compliant, products must function as intended or expected regardless of the date. The web site will contain information on those products identified by their manufacturers as not being Year 2000 compliant, or an indication that all of the manufacturer's products are unaffected by the Year 2000 problem. For further information, contact: Internet address: http://www.fda.gov/ cdrh/ yr2000/year2000.html.