Grand jury probing meningitis-linked pharmacy: newspaper

A Framingham Motorcycle Unit officer stands by while federal agents search New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts October 16, 2012. The pharmaceutical compounding company is a producer of the steroid methylprednisolone acetate, which is a drug linked to a rare form of meningitis that has killed 16 people and sickened more than 200 others, the Virginia Department of Health said in a statement on Tuesday.

BOSTON (Reuters) - A grand jury is investigating the compounding pharmacy at the heart of a deadly meningitis outbreak, the Boston Globe reported on Saturday.

The grand jury has begun issuing subpoenas to people who worked for the New England Compounding Center, which closed after investigators determined it had produced the tainted injectible steroid that has killed 36 people, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed people who formerly worked for the company.

Grand jury investigations, which are conducted in secrecy, are a step prosecutors take before determining whether to press criminal charges.

Officials at the U.S. Attorney's office and NECC could not be reached for immediate comment on Saturday. The Globe reported that U.S. officials declined to comment.

After federal officials in October raided the Framingham, Massachusetts-based pharmacy, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz confirmed her office was investigating the company.

U.S. District Court Judge Dennis Saylor, who is hearing the dozen civil lawsuits filed against NECC in federal court in Boston, said during a Wednesday hearing there may be a grand jury investigation into the company.

(Reporting By Scott Malone; Editing by Vicki Allen)