Compounding Pharmacies Feeling the Effects of NECC's Errors Meningitis Outbreak Spurs Actions by States

By L.L. Woodard | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 1 hr 9 mins ago

Closing the barn door after the horse has escaped doesn't help those it might encounter, but it does protect people from the many other horses that remain in the barn. This is analogous to what's going on with compounding pharmacies in Florida and Massachusetts, now that the unsanitary conditions of the New England Compounding Center , NECC, have been linked to the current fungal meningitis outbreak.

Massachusetts Takes Action Against Compounding Pharmacies

The New York Times reported that after Massachusetts' health officials performed surprise inspections at some of the compounding pharmacies located in the state, the Waltham, Massachusetts-based Infusion Resource voluntarily surrendered its license over the weekend. The license surrender followed an Oct. 23 inspection that found the environment in which medications were being made revealed sanitation issues and perhaps as importantly, this pharmacy had been administering intravenous medications to patients, a clear violation of their license.

Infusion Resource is the third compounding pharmacy in the state to have its license suspended.

Florida Takes Action Against Compounding Pharmacy

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Pharmacy-made pregnancy drug under scrutiny after meningitis outbreak

By Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News

When a brand-name drug to help prevent premature births was approved last year, its $1,500-a-dose-price alarmed state and private sector insurance officials.

Many restricted use of the FDA-approved Makena in favor of $20- to $40-a-dose versions that had been made for years by pharmacies, saying that would give more women access to the treatment. Federal officials, sympathetic to such arguments, allowed the pharmacies to continue making the unapproved drugs.

But those decisions are now getting a second look following a deadly meningitis outbreak linked to a different pharmacy-made drug that has sickened hundreds of people and killed more than 25. No one has been reported injured by the pregnancy drug knockoffs. But the judgments made about Makena offer a window into the difficult tradeoffs between cost, safety and access sometimes confronted by policymakers and insurers at a time of growing angst over drug prices.

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House Dem slams drug compounders in new report

By Elise Viebeck - 10/29/12 12:24 PM ET
Compounding pharmacies were responsible for deaths before the current outbreak of meningitis, one House Democrat charged Monday. 

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) released a report that chronicles the rise of compounders, which remix medicines for patients with special needs, and the patchwork of regulations that applies to them. 

Markey's report alleges that at least 23 patients have died and 86 have been seriously sickened or injured as a result of medications distributed by compounding pharmacies in recent decades. 
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Official: Tainted steriods have Arizona connection

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More Bad News For Waltham Compounding Pharmacy Infusion Resource was recently shut down after a state inspection.

By Ryan Grannan-Doll

The Waltham compounding pharmacy shut down last week after a state inspection has surrendered its pharmacy license, according to WCVB-TV. 

Infusion Resource was shut down on Sunday, Oct. 28 after state inspectors found issues that could impact the cleanliness of its products, according to WCVB. The company was also administering intravenous medications without the proper license. 

The compnay has recalled the products it shipped in the past month, according to WCVB.

The news comes after a Framingham firm was shut down recenlty after it was linked to the meningitis outbreak. Infusion Resource is not liked to the outbreak.

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