A deadly outbreak of meningitis has been traced back to medicine produced by a specialty pharmacy that the federal government does not regulate.

To date, eight people have died and 105 have become ill from a steroid, methylprednisolone acetate, used to treat back pain and joint disorders.

The drug maker, the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts, reportedly sold more than 13,000 vials, unknown numbers of which were contaminated with a fungus. The vials were shipped to pain clinics located in 23 states.

So far, most of the meningitis cases have appeared in Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia, Indiana, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Compounding pharmacies mix different drugs together. They have become popular with some doctors and clinics because they offer lower prices than large pharmaceutical companies. But the government has not yet imposed oversight over them.

“The Food and Drug Administration has more regulatory authority over a drug factory in China than over a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts,” Kevin Outterson, an associate professor of law at Boston University, told The New York Times.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Meningitis Outbreak: 13,000 Got Suspect Steroid Shots (AP)

Scant Oversight of Drug Maker in Fatal Meningitis Outbreak (by Denise Grady, Andrew Pollack and Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times)

In Outbreak, Meningitis Is Reported in 5 States (by Denise Grady, New York Times)

FDA Allows Manufacturers to Self-Regulate Safety of New Ingredients (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)