FDA to hold meeting today to discuss stool transplants

The FDA today is holding its first formal meeting in years to discuss fecal microbiota transplantation, a procedure that’s become more popular in recent years to treat C. difficile infections that haven’t responded to other standard treatments. The event comes less than a week after new details emerged about the first patient death linked to the procedure. Today’s meeting is being held to discuss the safety and cost-effectiveness of the procedure, and to review any new evidence — published or unpublished — about the treatment. One issue that’s likely to be raised: how those who provide stool samples ought to be screened, especially since the FDA now requires physicians to examine donors for the type of drug-resistant bacteria found to be the cause of the patient death