Logo Image
|Articles|May 15, 2012

ViaValve Safety IV Catheter Receives Clearance from the FDA

Smiths Medical  announces that its ViaValve Safety I.V. Catheter has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and can be marketed in the United States. The ViaValve catheter is designed to enhance clinician and patient safety by helping reduce the risk of both blood exposure and needlestick injury and will be available for sale by the end of summer 2012.

The ViaValve Safety I.V. Catheter can help reduce the risk of blood exposure by means of an integrated valve in the catheter hub. The valve provides blood control by impeding the backflow of blood from the patients vein upon initial venipuncture. This helps to prevent the transfer of bloodborne pathogens from patient to caregiver on soiled gloves, clothing, bedding and dressings by maintaining a clean access site. ViaValve Safety I.V. Catheter also helps prevent inadvertent needlesticks, which, each year, affect approximately 800,000 hospital-based healthcare workers in the U.S.

For nearly 20 years, Smiths Medicals Jelco® safety I.V. catheters have provided needlestick protection consistent with legislation driven by the U.S. Needlestick Safety and Prevention ACT and OSHAs bloodborne pathogens standards (29 CFR 1910.1030). FDA 510(k) clearance of ViaValve Safety I.V. Catheter will allow the company to market a catheter that could help advance I.V. catheter safety by establishing an even higher standard of safety with requirements for blood control.

We are pleased to add a solution that helps to reduce bloodborne infections during I.V. starts, says Tommy Johns, vice president of global product management. The ViaValve Safety I.V. Catheter is the latest advancement in I.V. safety, and is built on the proven Jelco® catheter platform that has been a favorite of clinicians for almost two decades. It is our objective to produce innovative medical products with the purpose of promoting patient, clinician and healthcare worker safety while supporting the best possible clinical outcome.

Product(s) described may not be licensed or available for sale in all countries. The ViaValve catheter is FDA 510(k) cleared in the U.S.

 

Related to this article

View more
A brightly lit Hospital operating room, a surgical team wearing gowns and masks. (Adobe Stock 1790696595 by Damian)
How Can OR Teams Improve Environmental Cleaning Between Surgical Cases?
Turnover pressure can leave critical OR cleaning steps unfinished. Karen deKay, MSN, RN, EBP-C, CNOR, CIC, FAPIC, examines common gaps in environmental hygiene and how shared responsibilities, attention to disinfectant contact time, and ongoing education can help teams strengthen practices between cases.
Read more
Infection preventionists in full PPE with children in DRC. (Image credit: author with AI)
Chasing the Bundibugyo Outbreak: How Static Numbers Hide a Moving Epidemic
Nearly 4 months into the DRC's Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak, some indicators suggest transmission may be slowing. But shifting hotspots, treatment-center capacity problems, community deaths, and incomplete surveillance data show why national case totals alone cannot determine whether containment has been achieved.
Read more
Health care workers from the US speaking with other health care workers in DRC. (Image credit: author with AI)
What Outbreak Metrics Can and Cannot Tell Us About the Ebola DRC Response
Is the Ebola outbreak in the DRC getting better? The answer depends on which numbers you examine. Several important indicators are moving in the right direction, including slower case growth and a declining Rₜ. But major gaps remain in contact tracing, testing, community deaths, safe burial coverage, and treatment capacity in some of the hardest-hit areas. ICT takes a deeper look at the latest outbreak data and why the numbers suggest cautious optimism, not victory.
Read more
Dyan Troxell, MSN, RN, director of clinical education at HandCraft Linen Services; J.J. Odom, MBA, CHESP, CMIP, T-CHEST, university director of buildings and grounds for UConn Health and chair-elect of the AHE Board; and Jenna Rivers, MPH, CPH, CIC, manager of infection prevention and control at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.
At AHE Exchange26: Building Safer, Smarter Reusable Linen Programs
At AHE Exchange 2026, ICT spoke with experts representing commercial laundry services, EVS, and infection prevention about the systems behind a successful reusable linen program. They discuss linen quality, reject rates, unnecessary waste, frontline education, data, PAR levels, infection prevention oversight, and why strong relationships between health care facilities and their laundry providers matter.
Read more