Pharmacy safety bill goes to public hearing Monday

6:37 PM Rep. Sharon Treat's bill seeks to avoid repeat of problems that plagued Mass. compounding pharmacy recently

By Susan M. Cover scover@mainetoday.com State House Bureau

AUGUSTA The deaths of 53 people after a nationwide meningitis outbreak linked to a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts has prompted a local lawmaker to put in a bill to strengthen regulations in Maine.

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Pharmacy technician Suzanne Goddard works under a hood, preparing bags of intravenous medicines, in the sterile room on April 12 at Kennebec Pharmacy & Home Care in Augusta.

Staff photo by Joe Phelan

click image to enlarge

Pharmacy technician Suzanne Goddard works under a hood, preparing intravenous bags of medicines, in the sterile room on April 12, at Kennebec Pharmacy & Home Care in Augusta.

Staff photo by Joe Phelan

"We need to make sure what happened at that Massachusetts pharmacy could never happen in Maine," said Rep. Sharon Anglin Treat, D-Hallowell. "One of the reasons we have these issues is we have no unified federal law to deal with compounding pharmacies."

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Pharmacy safety bill goes to public hearing Monday