All you need to know about the pharmacy behind the meningitis outbreak

[jsr]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444799904578052882888851850.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

October 12, 2012, 8:23 p.m. ET
Pharmacy in Outbreak Acted Like Drug Maker
By MARK MAREMONT, JONATHAN D. ROCKOFF and TIMOTHY W. MARTIN

Both 45, the Caddens are graduates of the University of Rhode Island's pharmacy school. NECC is housed in a working-class suburb in a long brick complex that also houses Conigliaro Industries, a recycling operation and shredding plant. The recycling business and building are owned by Gregory Conigliaro, Mrs. Cadden's brother. He didn't respond to calls for comment.

As the business grew, the Caddens in 2004 sold their antique farmhouse in Cumberland, R.I., and moved to a home in Wrentham, Mass., with 13 rooms and a pool.

In 2006, Mr. Cadden formed a new firm, Ameridose LLC, which provides "sterile admixed and repackaged solutions" to hospital pharmacies, said the company website. State filings listed Messrs. Cadden and Conigliaro as managers of Ameridose as well as of a distributor, Alaunus Pharmaceutical LLC., both of which voluntarily ceased most operations earlier this month, giving state inspectors time to examine their facilities.

Earlier this year, Novation, an Irving, Texas, purchasing firm for hospitals, sought to end its relationship with Ameridose after inspecting one of its facilities. Among findings noted in a Novation audit report: no separation between sterile and nonsterile products in the warehouse and no standardized procedures for ensuring compounded sterile preparations are tested for stability.

[randome]

1. I see lots of lawsuits on the horizon.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. I was supposed to get a steroid injection last month....

I found I had serious misgivings, and questioned the physician about the sources and quality of the medicine. The doctor rolled his eyes at me, basically refused to address the questions at all. I postponed the treatment. Got a message from that doctor's office last week. Did not respond as yet. Message said something about the doctor being very sorry....Monday I will call them and tell them he was rude, dismissive and clearly making use of arrogance to avoid honesty about the sort of medicine he uses and the fact that he just uses what is handed to him, without question.
I'll never forget the look on his face, and when I heard how many were sick and dead, that look came back to me with the footnote that this is how an asshole looks when he's pretending there is no problem so he can keep making big money.

[upi402]

3. Doctors are very fail at times

They are brainwashed easily by group-think and arrogance gets in the way at times.

I don't juice - just wind sprint for 10+ seconds 6 times and DHEA increases 400% +/-
Lift heavy, few reps, and Testosterone increases.
No aerobics if you want to increase T.
Red meat too, if you're into it, helps.

[Jazzgirl]

8. It's not that type of steroid.

These are steroids used to treat inflammations like lung issues or back and knee pain.

[upi402]

12. True

Is the FDA in charge of compounding pharmacies?
I'd like to know if both steroid types are under FDA inspection.

[NashvilleLefty]

13. Not anymore - that's the issue!

According to NPR, the law allowing the Fed Govt to regulate these centers was struck down by the SCOTUS. So there is currently no Federal regulation of compounding pharmacies.

De-regulation at work!

[upi402]

14. Looks like it started in the Clinton years (sadly)

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20121012_ap_fdaregulationofpharmacieshasknottyhistory.html?c=r

Am I correct to say that they USED to be inspected by the FDA?
...Even the steroid(s) body builders use?

[HiPointDem]

15. interesting.

[randome]

4. If he apologized, no need to rub it in, IMO.

It sounds like listening to your instincts was the right thing to do.

[BlueToTheBone]

9. All you need to know is - Republican owned and operated.

My doc and I discussed this problem and how the company skirted the law. Compounding pharmacies make one dose at a time - these guys were repackaging and selling vaccines! He also talked about why those people died (injected straight into the spine with no brain/body barrier.)

My partner was supposed to have a steroid shot that month before too. Glad he didn't have one.

[riverwalker]

5. they were Republican donors to Scott Brown

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/10/11/elizabeth-warren-leads-scott-brown-points-new-poll/52WwAuuKvFbLtjEHRf9cGO/story.html

Brown to donate funds he got from pharmacy officials

Senator Scott Brown will donate $10,000 of campaign funds to the Meningitis Foundation of America, money his campaign ­received from the owners and executives of the pharmacy linked to the national meningitis outbreak that has sickened at least 170 people and killed 14.

The co-owner of the New England Compounding Center, Gregory Conigliaro, held a fund-raiser in September with his wife at their Southborough home, Brown’s campaign confirmed. The company’s injectable steroids have been traced to the outbreak. But the firm was not publicly linked to the problem until Oct. 4, after the fund-raiser was held.

Conigliaro and Barry J. Cadden, owners of New ­England Compounding Center, also own a mutual stake in a second pharmacy in West­borough, Ameridose, that has temporarily shut down under a voluntary agreement with the state.

Brown’s campaign press secretary, Alleigh Marré, said the campaign would not be donat­ing all of the donations received at the fund-raiser, ­only those from company officials. The campaign would not specify how much total cash it collected that night.

[lonestarnot]

6. Despicable trash they.

[marions ghost]

11. Unregulated...

these are the kinds of "small businesses" that need inspecting. Scott Brown would help them get by I'm sure.

Classic Rethuglicon "bottom line" thinking. I am not surprised at all. I hope they are prosecuted.

[HiPointDem]

16. interesting.

[TomClash]

7. Let the free market take care of it!

You libruls always knocking the little guy!

Get out of the way, Gubmint!

[DonRedwood]

10. And it is going on all over the place....