Compounding pharmacies in at least 49 states are not required to report the quantity of drugs they produce or where the drugs are shipped, according to survey results set to be released by Representative Edward J. Markey’s office Monday.
The report, being issued in advance of a US House hearing Tuesday on oversight of the specialty pharmacies, describes a patchwork of state policies under which regulators wait for complaints about faulty drugs, rather than work proactively to ensure medications mixed at the facilities are safe.
Contaminated injectable steroids made at a Framingham compounding pharmacy have sickened more than 700 people since last year, at least 53 of whom have died. The outbreak of fungal meningitis and other serious infections prompted Markey and other lawmakers to call for federal oversight of pharmacies found to be operating more like drug manufacturers, as the New England Compounding Center was.
Only two states, Missouri and Mississippi, required a specific license for compounding pharmacies, according to the report, which included results from every state but Rhode Island.
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