Get unlimited access to Bruins cup coverage - Just 99¢

The Boston Globe

Metro

Senators fault FDA on Ameridose

WASHINGTON — During the second day of congressional hearings into a fatal meningitis outbreak blamed on a Framingham pharmacy, senators said regulators not only failed to move aggressively against New England Compounding Center, but also a sister company that supplies drugs to thousands of hospitals nationwide.

As a result of a problematic 2008 inspection of Ameridose LLC, a large-scale drug compounder in Westborough, Food and Drug Administration investigators recommended that the agency issue a warning letter to the company, according to a report prepared by the staff of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, which held the hearing.

Comments

I have yet to see an adequate analysis of this situation which includes the facts that this occurred in George Bush's FDA and Mitt Romney's governorship. In general terms these two administrative and political leaders were strong advocates of getting the government off the backs of businessmen. They appointed people who shared their point of view In that context, one could easily imagine a diminution of zeal on the part of career employees who might see their task as oversight rather than "job creation." They were supervised by the anti-regulators. More specifically, has there been an investigation into the role of lobbyists who might have advocated on behalf of Ameridose and New England Compounding both at the bureaucratic level and with the Governor's office. I realize that Romney's people made off with all the hard disks from their computers, but a good investigator could follow up on this. What we need, of course, is SEX, SEX, SEX! That's the thing that brings the FBI to Jill Kelley's door with subpoenas in hand. Thirty-two deaths with more to come? Not quite as much drama in that investigation. It may be that there is no connection between political contributions made to Republicans Bush, Romney and Brown by those involved in ownership of Ameridose and New England Compounding and the lack of action at the State and Federal level. But it is a very legitimate area of interest to be explored and investigated.