Another Contaminated Medication Scare Prompts Recall
FDA is alerting health care providers that Med Prep Consulting Inc. of Tinton Falls, N.J., has recalled all of its products.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care providers and patients that all products products by Med Prep Consulting Inc., a Tinton Falls, N.J. specialty pharmacy, have been voluntarily recalled nationwide. In addition, on March 15, the New Jersey State Board of Pharmacy entered into an Interim Voluntary Consent Order with Med Prep Consulting in which the pharmacy agreed to temporarily halt all production operations, including the processing and shipping of medications. The recall was announced after health care providers at a hospital in Connecticut found fungus in five bags of magnesium sulfate intravenous solution.
FDA's announcement said the magnesium sulfate products may have been shipped to additional facilities in Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Health care providers should stop using all products made by Med Prep Consulting and return them to the company.
"Giving a patient a contaminated injectable drug could result in a life-threatening infection," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "We do not have reports of patient infections. However, due to a lack of sterility assurance at the facility and out of an abundance of caution, this recall is necessary to protect patients."
FDA, CDC, and state officials in New Jersey and Connecticut are collaborating to determine the scope of the contamination. The recall includes all products distributed through March 15, 2013. Med Prep Consulting Inc. products include antibiotics, general and local anesthetics, and medications for cardiac, labor and delivery, and pain management.
To reach Med Prep Consulting, call 732-493-3390 weekdays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.