Company linked to deadly meningitis ignored warnings, says FDA

Discolored residue on sterilization equipment, levels of mold and bacteria exceeding company limits, and an air conditioner that turned off during the night -- despite the importance of temperature regulation -- were all found during a federal inspection of the company linked to a lethal meningitis outbreak that has killed 25 peopled and left 313 more ill, reported the New York Times.

The results of the inspection were published by the Food and Drug Administration on Oct. 26.

The FDA also found that the New England Compounding Center, located in Framingham, Mass., did not look into reports of contamination from its own monitors, reported CNN. Investigators found "greenish black foreign matter" in vials of the steroid believed to have caused fungal meningitis in 18 states.

The New England Compounding Center provided drugs to the Mayo Clinic, as well as Harvard and Yale.

On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy revoked the organization's license to operate, writing in its own report that it "identified serious deficiencies and significant violations of pharmacy law and regulations that clearly placed the public's health at risk."

Image: Syringe On A Black Background" via Shutterstock