Fourth Question of the Day September 7, 2013 How can the CDC, FDA, and Congress get a handle on the number of actual victims of the NECC outbreak since we are learning about more and more potential victims each day?

Baltimore Co. pain relief practice resisting probe into meningitis outbreak Baltimore Pain Management Center subpoenaed because it received tainted steroids

By Scott Dance, The Baltimore Sun

6:25 p.m. EDT, July 10, 2013

A Baltimore County pain treatment center is resisting involvement in a probe into the deadly national fungal meningitis outbreak linked to tainted steroids last year.
Baltimore Pain Management Center, which received some doses of the recalled medications, filed an objection Tuesday in federal court to a subpoena it received last month. Lawyers are seeking documents from 76 clinics across the country, including seven in Maryland, that received the drugs as they build a case against New England Compounding Pharmacy Inc., the Massachusetts facility that produced them.
The practice, in the Rossville area on Philadelphia Road, argued that it should not be subject to subpoena because it was not aware that any of its patients were involved in the litigation. But a Pikesville attorney coordinating Maryland plaintiffs in the lawsuit said she represents two of Baltimore Pain Management's patients.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-meningitis-probe-20130710,0,1377433.story#ixzz2YjAGdSrj

Meningitis whistleblower on 60 Minutes

A lab technician tells Scott Pelley he warned his supervisor at the New England Compounding Center that their drugs were going to harm people a month before a medication the pharmacy produced began killing patients.

Joe Connolly, in his first interview, says his concerns were literally met with a shrug by the supervisor at the center, which is now under criminal investigation. Connolly appears in a 60 Minutes investigation into NECC, the compounding pharmacy that produced thousands of vials of a steroid pain medication that caused fungal meningitis that has so far killed 48 Americans and sickened over 700 more in the worst pharmaceutical disaster in decades.

Pelley's report will be broadcast on 60 Minutes Sunday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT.

A transcript of tonight's report on the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley follows:

Read here

Scott Pelley of CBS: Interview of Employee of NECC March 7, 2013

To watch this video click here.  Full Investigation on 60 Minutes on Sunday.

FDA had in mind to close NECC in 2003

by admin on 21/02/13 at 1:26 pm

In 2003 the FDA had in mind to close the New England Compounding Center (NECC) which lately caused the meningitis outbreak in some states of America. The NECC manufactured tainted Methylprednisolone Acetate injections. More than 400 individuals that administered the tainted steroid injections were sickened with fungal meningitis. This illness turned out to be tragic for 39 individuals.
According to a late report released by the House of Energy and Commerce Committee, the meningitis outbreak could have been prevented. The report disclosed many cases linked with the Massachusetts pharmacy that should have been shut down by the FDA earlier.

Continue reading here

Indiana Board of Pharmacy Revokes NECC's License

2/12/2013 Entry Description INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Board of Pharmacy agreed to revoke the New England Compounding Center’s license for its connection to the meningitis outbreak. The Massachusetts-based pharmacy reached a voluntary revocation agreement on Friday with Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s office. The board approved the agreement Monday during its meeting in Indianapolis. “Public health and safety is a top priority and today’s action was a necessary step to ensure this company, which put patients unnecessarily at risk, does not operate within our state’s borders going forward,” Zoeller said. Zoeller said a license revocation means the company cannot operate in Indiana for at least seven years. The company could apply for a new license after that time, but the board would have to approve the license application. In November, the Indiana Board of Pharmacy voted to indefinitely suspend NECC’s non-resident pharmacy license and the Attorney General’s office recently filed a licensing complaint against the company. Zoeller said the pharmacy failed to ensure its epidural steroid injections were safe for patients which led to devastating harm. As of Feb. 4, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) identified 10 deaths and 79 total cases of fungal meningitis in Indiana stemming from epidural steroid injections produced by NECC. Nationwide there were a total of 696 cases and 45 deaths across 20 states. In September, the CDC in coordination with the Food and Drug Administration identified the NECC as the compounding pharmacy that produced the epidural steroid injections that caused the onset of meningitis in certain patients. Shortly after, NECC ceased production and initiated a recall of the drugs. As a licensed non-resident pharmacy whose products were distributed and sold in Indiana, NECC is legally responsible for the “proper and safe storage and distribution of drugs and devices.” -30-

Contact Information: Name: Erin Reece Phone: 317.232.0168 Email: Erin.Reece@atg.in.gov Source found here

Compounder that operated like drug plant paid big bucks to owners

Judge orders NECC shareholders to keep hands off $21 million in payments

Read more: Compounder that operated like drug plant paid big bucks to owners - FiercePharma Manufacturing http://www.fiercepharmamanufacturing.com/story/compounder-operated-drug-plant-paid-big-bucks-owners/2013-01-29#ixzz2JOb2bfSn
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