DeLauro on Alarming Findings of HHS Inspector General

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) releasedthe following comments in response to a report from the Office of the InspectorGeneral (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services that found thevast majority of hospitals that use high-risk compounded sterile preparationsoutsource the production of some of those products. This report comes in thewake of last year's recall of compounded drugs that caused a nationwide fungalmeningitis outbreak.

"The IG's findings are simply staggering and underscore therisk that people across the country learned far too well last year. Thanks to a savvy nurse in Connecticut, a compounded sterile preparation thatmay have been contaminated was identified before making anyone sick in my homestate. But we should not have to rely on chance – we need strong, clearfederal oversight of sterile compounding to ensure that patients and healthcare providers across the country can have confidence in the safety of theseproducts."

As noted by the OIG, compounded sterile preparations have ahigher risk for patients than non-sterile preparations. These sterilemedical treatments may be administered to patients in a hospital setting via aninjection or infusion. An example of these preparations is the productintended for intravenous injection that a nurse at the Yale New Haven Hospitalspotted visible foreign matter floating in. Her action led to anationwide recall of potentially contaminated Med Prep products. The OIG reportfound that more than 90 percent of hospitals administer compounded sterilepreparations and more than 80 percent of those hospitals outsource at leastsome production of those medical products.

Additional information on the report may be found here. Additional information on the recall of Med Prep Consulting, Inc. products maybe found here.