"Congress can’t just keep talking about it – they need to act quickly to protect all Americans from contaminated drugs which are causing illness and death in almost every state." Mike Stephenson, a partner with McNeely Stephenson Thopy & Harrold, says

ndianapolis, IN (PRWEB) August 14, 2013

An August 11, 2013, press release from the Federal Drug Administration announced the nationwide voluntary recall of all sterile products from Specialty Compounding, LLC, in Cedar Park, TX, after 15 patients at two Texas hospitals developed bacterial bloodstream infections subsequent to receiving calcium gluconate injections prepared by the company.

This is the second of such contaminated drug recalls involving compounding pharmacies in less than a year. A 2012 fungal meningitis infection that spread in contaminated vials of medicine distributed by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., led to 63 deaths and 749 people becoming ill, according to the CDC.

The proposed Pharmaceutical Quality, Security and Accountability Act (SB 959), which would help prevent illnesses and deaths caused by tainted products of compounding pharmacies, is currently before the Senate Committee on Energy and Commerce. “This legislation would close some of the loopholes under which these compounding companies have been operating,” Stephenson said. “Congress can’t just keep talking about it – they need to act quickly to protect all Americans from contaminated drugs which are causing illness and death in almost every state.”

At their July 16, 2013, hearing on SB 959, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Member on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, stated, “We have learned that there is a gaping hole in our drug safety laws. American families expect us to work together to develop an effective legislative response. And we need to do this as quickly as possible. We know that otherwise it will not be if another dangerous catastrophe occurs with compounded medicines, but when.”

continue to read here