Dive Brief:
- Two pharmacists from the New England Compounding Center, including Barry Caden, owner, and Glenn Chin, head pharmacist, have been charged with 25 counts of second-degree murder in seven states. They could face life in prison if convicted.
- Contaminated medicines from this pharmacy caused an uproar in 2012 when non-sterile MPA (methylprednisolone acetate) injected into patients was found to be associated with more than 60 deaths.
- Many people were involved in a scandal associated with this compounding pharmacy, which involved 14 people and the transfer of $33 million as the pharmacy started to get into trouble and go bankrupt. All 14 involved have been arrested on a litany of charges.
Dive Insight:
Compounding pharmacies have come under increasing scrutiny as patients have suffered the consequences of unregulated drugs. This may be the beginning of the end for the current regulatory regime for compounders, which face conflicting state and federal purviews and are not under direct control of the FDA.