Mass. Board Approves New Regulations For Compounding Pharmacies

The state will start more closely tracking operations at compounding pharmacies, like the one in Framingham blamed for causing a nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak.

The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy on Thursday approved new emergency regulations so the state can monitor whether specialty pharmacies are operating more like drug manufacturing facilities that require licensing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The board also approved stiffer penalties for violations.

The Patrick administration has said the Framingham-based New England Compounding Center may have misled regulators about the scope of its operations.

So far, 28 deaths nationwide are linked to tainted injections produced there.