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Sen. Edward M. Kennedy pushed for tighter regulations that may have prevented the nationwide deadly meningitis outbreak tied to a Framingham compounding pharmacy but was stopped cold by a well-financed industry group.
“The reaction of the compounding pharmacy group was to mount a very aggressive lobbying campaign,” said a former Kennedy staffer. “They identified pharmacists in key districts and sent them to lobby members.”
The industry group shunned requests to shape legislation and waged an “unprecedented” campaign to kill the draft bill, the former staffer said.
The late senator’s bipartisan legislation, the Safe Drug Compounding Act of 2007, would have given the federal Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate compounding pharmacies, which are now monitored by states, and to require sterile drug mixing.
Framingham-based New England Compounding Center, which federal officials said is the source of fungus-contaminated steroids that have killed 14 people and sickened 184 in 12 states, was only inspected after complaints, according to officials.
Compounding pharmacy groups opposed the legislation to give the FDA wider authority, according to a 2007 letter the groups sent to Kennedy...
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061167341&srvc=rss
“The reaction of the compounding pharmacy group was to mount a very aggressive lobbying campaign,” said a former Kennedy staffer. “They identified pharmacists in key districts and sent them to lobby members.”
The industry group shunned requests to shape legislation and waged an “unprecedented” campaign to kill the draft bill, the former staffer said.
The late senator’s bipartisan legislation, the Safe Drug Compounding Act of 2007, would have given the federal Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate compounding pharmacies, which are now monitored by states, and to require sterile drug mixing.
Framingham-based New England Compounding Center, which federal officials said is the source of fungus-contaminated steroids that have killed 14 people and sickened 184 in 12 states, was only inspected after complaints, according to officials.
Compounding pharmacy groups opposed the legislation to give the FDA wider authority, according to a 2007 letter the groups sent to Kennedy...
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061167341&srvc=rss