Visible mold forces recall of N.J. pharmacy injection drugs
- By JoNel Aleccia, Senior Writer, NBC News
March 18, 2013
Excerpts:
A New Jersey compounding pharmacy has temporarily shuttered operations after Connecticut hospital officials reported finding visible mold in bags of a vital injection drug.
. . . Med Prep Consulting Inc., of Tinton Falls, agreed to stop making and shipping medications after recalling all lots of all products --
including the magnesium sulfate intravenous solution that sparked concerns starting last week, Food and Drug Administration officials said Monday. . . .
. . . At least thirteen hospitals in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania apparently received the firm�s
50-milliliter bags of magnesium sulfate 2 grams in dextrose 5 percent in water, a solution commonly used to replace vital electrolytes in hospitalized patients, according to agency statements.
Product packed in plastic syringes was also distributed nationwide to doctors' offices and clinics, FDA officials said.
The Connecticut officials last week identified "visible floating particles" in the potentially contaminated drugs, New Jersey pharmacy board officials said.
Mold was confirmed in five bags of the drugs after the Connecticut hospital raised questions, the FDA said.
There have been no reports of illness in any patients who received the drugs, which was distributed between Feb. 18 and March 13 to regional hospitals. . .
. . . The affected drugs include 88 orders that could range from as few as 10 to 20 bags of magnesium sulfate solution per order to 500 bags per order, Cifaldi said.
He added that it is not clear how many patients may have received the drugs.
"That doesn't mean it all went to the patients," he said. "It could be sitting on the hospital shelves." . . .
. . . The action comes six months after a deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis tied to contaminated injection steroids manufactured by a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy, the New England Compounding Center.
Fifty people have died among 722 sickened by contaminated epidural painkillers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said . . .
. . . [This full NBC News article at link above.] -
[ 03-19-2013, 04:24 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- More detail today by the same network, same reporter as above but I lost the work page with excerpts I had created.
A bit more detail has come to light today so, if a possible concern for you for anyone you know, this is just the last bit of an excerpt from NBC News, 3-19-13:
. . . Of the 86 drugs affected by the Med Prep recall, 53 are in short supply, according to Erin Fox, manager of the Drug Information Service at the University of Utah, which tracks drug shortages. . . . -