March 16, 2013                                                                             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HARTFORD, March 16 – The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection and the Department of Public Health (DPH) are investigating a New-Jersey based compounding pharmacy after public health and drug control officials learned that some sterile compounded products delivered to a Connecticut hospital appeared cloudy and possibly contaminated.

 

“This is a developing situation in which our Drug Control agents are working with hospital officials, the Food and Drug Administration, and Med Prep of New Jersey to learn more about the scope and source of the possible contamination,” Consumer Protection Commissioner William M. Rubenstein said.

“The Department of Public Health is working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on this investigation to determine the potential health effects of the contamination,” said DPH Commissioner Dr. Jewel Mullen. “We're also working with hospital officials to make sure that patients who may have received the contaminated products are notified and closely monitored.”

 

State officials have advised all Connecticut acute care hospitals of the possible contamination and requested that they sequester any Med Prep medication they may have while the investigation is underway.

 

Med Prep Consulting, Inc, of Ocean, New Jersey is registered in Connecticut as a non-resident pharmacy and operates Med Prep IV Compounding Pharmacy of Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

 

On Friday, the New Jersey State Board of Pharmacy announced that Med Prep Consulting, Inc. temporarily halted all pharmacy operations following the pharmacy’s voluntary recall of bags of magnesium sulfate intravenous solution. That recall includes bags of the intravenous solution that had been delivered to a Connecticut hospital, which were identified as possibly contaminated with visible floating particles. It also includes magnesium sulfate products that may have been dispensed to facilities elsewhere, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania. New Jersey's public notification is here: http://nj.gov/oag/newsreleases13/pr20130315c.html

 

Claudette Carveth       
Claudette.carveth@ct.gov    
860-713-6022
   
William Gerrish              
William.gerrish@ct.gov    
860-250-8391