As the number of cases and deaths associated with the national meningitis outbreak continues to rise, one has to ask the question, could this public health disaster been averted? Did the FDA have the authority to close the New England Compounding Center (NECC) before this outbreak? According to an FDA warning letter, dated Dec. 4, 2006, NECC had been warned that its practices deviated from traditional compounding. The violations were serious enough that the FDA had the right to a seizure and injunction against the firm.
