In Outbreak Wake, Should Regulations Of Compounding Pharmacies Change?

Documents newly released by the state Department of Public Health show the Framingham pharmacy at the center of the national meningitis outbreak repeatedly violated state drug regulations, but was never severely punished by the state.

The violations include mass producing drugs in violation of its license, and telling health providers to give the names of nurses instead of patients when submitting orders for drugs.

The documents show complaints were filed as far back as a decade ago against New England Compounding Center.

The outbreak has raised questions about whether there should be changes to federal and state regulations over compounding pharmacies, which specialize in retooling medications for individual patients.

For a look at this, Daniel Carpenter, a political science professor at Harvard University who specializes in regulatory law, joined Morning Edition Tuesday.