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Lawmakers seek more regulation of compounded drugs

A sign in front of the Waverly Business Center lists the New England Compounding and other business in Framingham, Mass., Wednesday Oct. 3, 2012. An outbreak of a rare and deadly form of meningitis has now sickened 26 people in five states who received steroid injections mostly for back pain, health officials said Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration identified the maker of the steroid as New England Compounding Center, a specialty pharmacy. (Marshall Wolff / AP Photo/The MetroWest Daily News)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Democratic lawmakers are calling for stricter federal oversight of compounding pharmacies in the wake a deadly meningitis outbreak linked to contaminated injections made by a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy. Representatives Rosa DeLauro and Edward Markey said in separate statements Tuesday that they will draft legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration more authority to police the safety of custom-mixed medicines, known as compounded drugs. Compounding pharmacies traditionally supply products that are not available commercially, based on an individual doctor’s prescription. But some pharmacies have grown into larger businesses, operating across state lines and supplying drugs to thousands of hospitals, clinics and physicians. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says as many as 13,000 people received steroid shots from the New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Mass.