No More Deaths: Clean Up Massachusetts Drug Manufacturing Plants
- by: Care2.com
- recipient: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Most people don't usually have to consider death by meningitis as a possible side effect of easing back pain.
Some patients who recently received routine shots to alleviate pain along their spinal cord, however, have already died from a rapidly spreading fungus contained in their medication thanks to unsanitary conditions at the packaging center.
Investigators discovered that The New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. packaged and sent three lots of a steroid medication full of this rare fungus to 23 states. Patients who were given the tainted shots conducted fungal meningitis, which most physicians have no experience in treating.
Visibly soiled equipment at the compounding center combined with lack of proper testing allowed the fungus to spread through the steroid, resulting in the deaths of more than 20 people and sickening hundreds more.
There's no excuse for this kind of negligence. Demand that the FDA steps up drug manufacturing plant regulations for Massachusetts.
Dear FDA,
The recent delivery of tainted methylprednisolone acetate packaged by Framingham's New England Compounding Center has made me incredibly concerned over the health codes and regulations in Massachusetts' drug manufacturing plants. Out of the 23 states the medication shipped to, seven have had fatalities or incredible sickness caused by fungal meningitis.
[Your comments here]There's no excuse for a plant we rely on for our own health to become a breeding ground for deadly fungi. I urge you to take steps to better regulate drug manufacturing plant sanitation and packaging methods.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
