Massachusetts Pharmacy Workers Ordered to Stop Work

Massachusetts regulators have ordered all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who worked at the Framingham company at the center of national fungal meningitis outbreak to immediately stop working in the drug-compounding industry.

The letter dated Oct. 31 from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy says the investigation into the outbreak has determined that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians employed by the New England Compounding Center “may present an immediate or serious threat to the public health, safety, and welfare and should immediately cease.”

The letter was obtained by The Boston Globe.

The company closed last month and recalled all of its products. A steroid produced at the company has been linked to 419 fungal meningitis cases and joint infections and 30 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.