BOSTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Congressional investigations Tuesday subpoenaed the managing pharmacist of the Massachusetts compounding firm at the center of the meningitis outbreak.
The subpoena followed an order by state regulators barring pharmacists and technicians at the company from working in the industry.
A subpoena was issued for Barry Cadden, co-owner of the New England Compounding Center of Framingham, where steroids used for spinal injections to relieve pain were contaminated with fungus.
Cadden was ordered to appear Nov. 14 before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, The Boston Globe reported.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 419 people were infected with a rare fungal meningitis. Thirty of those infected have died.
The Globe obtained a copy of a letter the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy sent to all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians employed by the compounding firm.
The letter stated an investigation of the outbreak had determined the employees "may present an immediate or serious threat to the public health, safety and welfare, and should immediately cease," the Globe reported Tuesday.
Previously the board voted to seek the permanent surrender of the firm's pharmacy license as well as permanent revocation of the licenses of the company's three primary pharmacists, including Cadden and his wife Lisa Conigliaro Cadden.
New England Compounding closed early last month and recalled all its products.
