Texas Compounding Pharmacy Recalls Products due to Infection

Specialty Compounding LLC, a subsidiary of Peoples Pharmacy Inc. recently recalled several products after 15 patients at two Texas hospitals became ill due to a bacterial infection. The agency believes there could be a strong association between the medication use and the infection. Patients at Corpus Christi Medical Center Doctors Regional and Corpus Christi Medical Center Bay Area all received IV infusions of calcium gluconate from the company. However, shortly after according to the FDA, the patients soon developed infections caused by Rhodoccus equi.

"Because of the potential association between the hospital-based infections and sterile compounded medications produced by Specialty Compounding, we are voluntarily recalling all sterile products out of an abundance of caution. We deeply regret the impact this recall has on our patients and the hospitals that we serve, but patient safety must always be our first concern," said Ray Solano, pharmacist in charge at Specialty Compounding, according to a news release, via USA Today.

The news organization also notes that in 2012, at least 63 people died of meningitis while 749 became ill after receiving steroid injections from the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts.

"I am saddened to learn of yet another incident where patients have been potentially harmed due to tainted drugs produced by a compounder. The Senate has before it a unique opportunity to take bipartisan action and improve the safety of compounded drugs. I hope that the Senate takes up and passes the bipartisan Pharmaceutical Quality, Security, and Accountability Act as soon as possible so that the FDA and state boards of pharmacy can have the guidance necessary to carry out their work to protect all Americans," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, in a statement, via USA Today.

The Food and Drug Administration is working closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Conrol and Prevention (CDC) and other state officials to investigate any further changes caused by the bacterial infections. 

R equi was first isolated back in 1923 from foals of a different bacterial strain. Though rarely seen in humans, the first case was reported in 1967 in a 29-year-old man with plasma cells who had hepatits and received immunosuppressant medications. Today, it has become an opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised patients, especially with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS.)