The Framingham compounding pharmacy at the center of the national meningitis outbreak was the subject of an investigation by Massachusetts’ regulators 6 years ago.
But The Boston Globe reports the chief executive of the firm hired to do the investigation of the New England Compounding Center was awaiting trial on a fraud indictment.
Pharmacy Support Inc. of Illinois, founded by Ross A. Caputo, inspected the Framingham facility in May of 2006 and eventually found it to be satisfactory, but Caputo was later convicted and imprisoned for fraud, involving a product blamed for blinding people.
A spokesman for Gov. Deval Patrick says his administration is investigating what they called the “troubling” choice of Caputo’s company — a selection he said was made during Gov. Mitt Romney’s administration.
Also, federal officials released a list of almost 1,300 New England Compounding customers, including 75 Massachusetts hospitals, doctors' offices and clinics. But late Oct. 22 the Food and Drug Administration removed the list, saying it had found technical problems and “the data are incorrect.”
