Sen. Richard Moore to Join Compounding Pharmacy Panel

State Sen. Richard Moore, who represents the Milford area, will serve on a state panel that will make recommendations on regulations for compounding pharmacies.

The Special Commission on Compounding Pharmacies was created following a deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis, linked to the New England Compounding Center in Framingham.

The 10-member commission will review best practices in other states for regulations of compounding pharmacies that create injectible medications, according to a press release. It will make recommendations on proposed regulations or amendments to state or federal laws to protect consumers.

According to national health officials, 36 people have died related to the meningitis outbreak. Framingham specialty pharmacy New England Compounding Center (NECC) has been linked to the deadly outbreak.

Another 510 individuals are affected, infected with meningitis in 19 states. All of the NECC products have been recalled and the company has been shut down.

NECC owner Barry Cadden took the fifth in the congressional hearing.

Just before Thanksgiving, a

In a congressional report, the FDA considered New England Compounding Center to be a pharmacy in 2003. Pharmacies are regulated by the state, drug manufacturers are regulated by the FDA.

Congressman Ed Markey, who represents Framingham, is the senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

He said NECC fell into a "blackhole" between federal and state regulators and became a "compounding manufacturer" and not a compounding pharmacy.

The two Washington committees may create legislation to shift oversight of compounding pharmacies from states to the FDA.

Also in November, Massachusetts fired the director of its Board of Pharmacy after he failed to investigate a complaint against New England Compounding Center.

The FDA released a list of customers, who received products from NECC in Framingham on or after May 21.

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Click here to find all of Framingham Patch’s coverage of NECC and the meningitis outbreak.