GOP Lawmakers Critical of FDA's Request for More Medical Authority

Assert that FDA already had authority to shut down pharmacy at center of meningitis outbreak but did not

U.S. Republican lawmakers accused federal health regulators on Wednesday of failing to prevent a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak by not acting much earlier to shut down the compounding pharmacy at the center of the crisis.

As Congress began debate on whether new laws are needed to help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration police the little-known drug compounding industry, Republicans in a committee hearing warned against the knee-jerk adoption of new regulation.

Instead, Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asserted that FDA already had the authority needed to move against errant pharmacy operations, long before the rare meningitis cases began appearing in September.