(Sanofi Pasteur, Creative Commons)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected the New England Compounding Center and revealed its findings on Friday. The FDA found “greenish-yellow residue on sterilization equipment, surfaces coated with levels of mold and bacteria that exceeded the company’s own environmental limits, and an air-conditioner that was shut off nightly despite the importance of controlling temperature and humidity.”

The New England Compounding Center is the pharmacy responsible for the meningitis outbreak, which has resulted in 25 deaths so far; 313 more people are now ill, and 14,000 people in total have been exposed.

The FDA reported that the company had discovered bacteria and mold in the drug-making facility in January, and did not act on it. The FDA uncovered about four dozen reports of such contamination in the company’s possession, and no evidence that the company or its employees even investigated, let alone solved the problem.

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the meningitis outbreak here.

Reach Executive Producer Cara Palmer here; follow her here.