Thursday, February 7, 2013

Pharmacies Re-examined After Meningitis Outbreak




A recent Washington Post article explains how 11 pharmacies in Massachusetts were shut down either partially or completely due to unsanitary conditions. After a deadly nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis, the Department of Public Health initiated unannounced inspections at 40 sterile compounding pharmacies.

The outbreak began in September in Tennessee by a contaminated steroid used to treat back pain. Since then, 45 people have died and over 600 sickened throughout the nation.

In addition to the 11 pharmacies that were shut down in any way, 21 more were cited for minor infractions that have already been addressed. The 11 locations must submit plans and undergo renovations if necessary, as well as pass re-inspection, before they can once again begin producing drugs.

Some pharmacies in Massachusetts are linked to those in other states. Those states have been notified and these pharmacies will be inspected. In response to this incidednt, the Board of Pharmacy recently implemented new regulations requiring sterile pharmacies to report their volume and distribution.

What do you think of the steps being taken to reassure public safety and maintain cleanly pharmacies?
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1 comment:

Sangwon Yun said...

I think Savanna poses a question which has been raised since Progressivism. Since the days when our lovely meat packers haphazardly included morsels of rat poop with our sausages and consumers became more informed, what has the federal government done to maintain the integrity of commercial products?

In the case of the tainted medication raised by the post, it seems to be just one of many cited recently. I mean, just running a Google News search for "pharmaceutical recall" comes back with a startling number of hits.

So, is regulation stringent enough? Should we have high confidence in the various bureaucratic agencies to keep us and our families safe from defective products, whether diseased medication or imported lead toys? We can all agree that we are doing better than the time of Roosevelt. But can we do better?

I think we're definitely moving the right way. With the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, it's clear that the federal government is cognizant of the fact an evolving economic status quo requires similarly progressive preventative measures.

February 7, 2013 at 9:28 PM

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