Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Insurance Policies Favoring Compounded Drugs For High-Risk Pregnancies Draw Scrutiny
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.
Clink here to continue reading
Zoeller: Suspend License Of Pharmacy That Produced Tainted Steroids
Last updated on Tuesday, October 30, 2012
(INDIANAPOLIS) - Attorney General Greg Zoeller wants the Indiana Pharmacy Board to suspend the license of a questionable Massachusetts pharmacy.
The pharmacy is linked to the meningitis outbreak. Zoeller filed an emergency petition Friday.
He says the New England Compounding Center produced the tainted steroid that has been linked to fungal meningitis.
The non-resident pharmacy distributes its products in Indiana and has already suspended operations.
The Indiana Department of Health says the state now has 43 cases and three deaths stemming from the nationwide outbreak. Zoeller says the NECC presents an immediate danger to public health and safety.
CLick here to continue reading
Insurer Sues Compounding Pharmacy over Coverage for Fungi-Contaminated Injection Claims
October 30, 2012
Download a PDF Version of this Article 
OCALA, Fla. — Evanston Insurance Co. has filed a federal lawsuit requesting a ruling that it has no obligation to defend a Florida-based compounding pharmacy against claims by individuals who were allegedly infected by fungus-contaminated injections.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 26 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleges that coverage of at least seven claims and two underlying personal injury suits against Franck’s Lab Inc. is barred by a mold and fungi exclusion contained in policies it sold the company and its related entities.
Evanston says it wants the federal court to declare that it has ...http://harrismartin.com/article/15331/insurer-sues-compounding-pharmacy-over-coverage-for-fungi-contaminated-injection-claims/
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
Continue reading here
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.
continue reading article here
House Dem slams drug compounders in new report
- 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.
Continue reading here
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.
Continue reading here
More Bad News For Waltham Compounding Pharmacy Infusion Resource was recently shut down after a state inspection.
By Ryan Grannan-Doll
Source found here
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)