Of all places, a compounding Pharmacy!
Water from a leaking boiler collected just outside a room that was supposed to be sterile. Floor mats used by technicians were filled with dirt and debris. Drugs were shipped out before the company even confirmed they were sterile.
State officials said Tuesday that they found these and other problems at the New England Compounding Center during a preliminary investigation into the company, linked to a deadly outbreak of meningitis.
OK I was wondering if this was a tampering attack since the contamination of the injectables seemed conveniently deadly…now I’m just amazed that we ONLY had an outbreak of Meningitis. I’ve spent a LOT of time working in sterile labs, and I’m amazed to see something THIS Bush League. And my labs are sterile because I work with ANIMALS these are drugs for PEOPLE!
(also you know things are bad when Deval Patrick actually shows his face in Massachusetts)
We’re up to six lawsuits against this company in my area alone (not through the law firm I work at, though, so I can still comment on it), and that lawyer says he is representing an additional 15 people on this. Two local clinics (one in my county, one in Roanoke) used the tainted steroids. At least 24 people are known to have gotten sick, and there are 689 people just in southwest VA that received tainted injections.
And what happens when I get distracted? I forget to finish my comments!
I suspect that company is going to be driven out of business from the lawsuits alone, never mind any regulatory issues stemming from this, and if what’s in the story you linked to is true, I hope every person with authority in the company ends up either in the poorhouse or in jail!
Compounding pharmacies tend to be a little lax on sterility in general, I’m not surprised that there was a terrible case like this.
My pharmacist friend that worked in one suggested it was because they are pharmacists not chemists or biologists and their training is essentially pill counting not lab work.
She actually managed to effect some change where she worked, but I doubt it lasted long after she left, the management didn’t care so long as they were continuing to make money and never had more than a couple warnings in any inspection.
It’s really disappointing that people are so unable to see the consequences of their actions that they work in these conditions.
And they were working in much larger quantities than they were licensed to do.