Deaths, infections tied to 'compounding' drugs

Peter Eisler, USA TODAY 6:35AM EDT October 12. 2012 - Specialized, drug-producing pharmacies like the one implicated in the nation's ongoing meningitis outbreak have been tied to a string of fatal infections and overdoses stretching back more than a decade, a USA TODAY examination of public records shows.
The cases have prompted repeated calls since at least 2001 for better oversight of "compounding" pharmacies, which are not subject to the same stringent safety rules as large-scale drug manufacturers.
Despite those calls — from public health officials, patient advocates and pharmacists themselves — compounding pharmacies continue to operate in the seams of the regulatory system. They fall somewhere between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the federal regulator of the pharmaceutical industry, and the state boards of pharmacy that oversee more traditional druggists.  To read rest of story click here