MA pharmacy board director fired, allegedly ignored complaint

The director of the state pharmacy board, James D. Coffey, has been fired and the board's attorney, Susan Manning, has been placed on administrative leave for allegedly ignoring a complaint in July that New England Compounding Center was distributing bulk shipments of drugs to hospitals in Colorado, in violation of its state licenses, Massachusetts health officials announced Wednesday. New England Compounding is the Framingham pharmacy blamed for a national outbreak of fungal meningitis caused by contaminated steroids it produced between May and August of this year.