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They are urging anyone who has had an injection for lower back pain to watch for symptoms of meningitis, which include a stiff neck and balance problems.
Cases have been identified in nine states and health officials fear the numbers will rise as doctors check patients for the symptoms. Doctors and patients alike may not know to look for the unusual infection, which can take weeks to develop after an injection.
"Several of these patients have had strokes related to the meningitis," the CDC said in a statement posted on its website. "In several patients, the meningitis was found to be caused by a fungus that is common in the environment but rarely causes meningitis. This form of meningitis is not contagious. The source of the fungus has not yet been identified, and the cause of infections in the other patients is still being assessed."
The drug in question is called methylprednisone and is used mostly to treat older patients for lower back pain.
The contaminated drugs have been traced to a single pharmacy in Massachusetts, the New England Compounding Center. The pharmacy has closed voluntarily and recalled its products, which include steroids, painkillers and dozens of other drugs. At least one sealed vial of drug has been found to have fungus growing in it, the Food and Drug Administration said. The FDA does not regulate pharmacies like the one in Massachusetts but can be called in when contamination is suspected.
Compounding pharmacies usually make drugs to order, and the steroids suspected of causing the infections did not contain preservatives that can keep fungi and bacteria from growing.
The pharmacy sent products to clinics in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, and West Virginia, the CDC says.
In this case, the patients appear to have had contaminated drugs injected directly into their spinal fluid. CDC says the clinics do not appear to be to blame. The CDC said it has found fungus, including Aspergillus and Exserohilum, in specimens from nine patients.
Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Bacteria or viruses are the usual cause, but meningitis can also be caused by fungi and parasites. "In addition to typical meningitis symptoms, like headache, fever, nausea, and stiffness of the neck, people with fungal meningitis may also experience confusion, dizziness, and discomfort from bright lights. Patients might just have one or two of these symptoms," CDC said.
Related stories:
Seven dead in meningitis outbreak
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notified thursday...lumbar puncture friday...2 more weeks of not knowing...wife notified sat eve...the stress is unbelivable...some one is getting sued...you can bet the house on it......
stresse:
Please, you and your wife get checked. If you have any headache or stiffness in the neck, go to the Emergency Room; don't wait till morning.
Things that grow (bacteria, fungus, cancer) start small and insignificant. You can do something at that stage. Don't wait until it is a huge problem.
Excellent story on the topic:
Compounding pharmacies are only supposed to compound for named patients. Obviously, NECC did not follow this rule. They have been cited before for such practices.
It is my personal opinion only..but after this, can the US PLEASE start inspection and oversight of this group of people? I know a lot of people believe less regulation is the best course. I am also sure, with this latest outbreak....that we do not need LESS regulation...but MORE. It has been clear to me for many years that business will do whatever it can to save money and have profits. And, people die. Your wife, husband, child etc. It is time to stop The American Corporation's very literal rape of the American people.
I therefore do not believe ANY business is worthy if it is not regulated HEAVILY. Disagree if you want...the fact is, if it is your loved one dying for the lack of regulation, you would be SCREAMING for it.
Republicans have fought against consumer protections which kill a lot of people. Obama worked hard to insure that we have a Federal Consumer Protection Agency. There are more checks and balances now than ever, but the backlog of negligence is huge.
My church pastor believes that Obamacare is killing one of the clergy because he was denied a procedure by Medicare, and that's why he won't vote for Obama. I'm wondering how many lives have been saved; I know that people can get catastrophic insurance, which they couldn't before. It is horrible that there are some who are brainwashed to think that regulations hurt them, when the regulations save lives.
When are you going to learn, DON'T let anybody inject anything in your body especially steroids.....! Steroids no matter if they inject up your spine or in a joint it wrecks the immune system, even taking pills, so now if the medicines have a trace of bacteria or fungus in them your goose is cooked & your immune system can't fight nothing. MSM has tons of testimonials that they say works wonders for back & joint pains, you can buy at a healthfood store works in a few days & taken about 3 times a day, when your pain starts to subside, then go to one a day for about 3 months....it is natural sulfur & will never wreck your immune system like damn steroids.
Vaccines same thing, did you know that the Spanish flu killed ONLY those that got the Vaccine back in the day ! Please, stay away from these people that play God & brainwash you that they know what they doing, they don't !
And you and all of the so called heath experts that advertise all over the internet and all of the pills in health food stores that have no regulation what so ever are the best bet?
We eradicated Polio, Smallpox, bubonic plague etc., etc. What have you done?
You lost me on the vaccines: those have prevented many epidemics.
However, there is one truth: steroids should not be the first choice, but the last choice. I suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. There are times when some steroid makes sense, but most of the time one has better pain relief from omega-3 (fish oil), electro stimulus, chiropractic, gentle stretches and physical therapy. Most drugs used to treat arthritis suppress the immune system, because in arthritis, the trouble is the immune system is attacking the body in an auto-immune syndrome. If they suppress the immune system, it goes down to normal, but like insulin for diabetes this is hard to really predict. Some of the best medicine is prevention: some people don't eat sugar or wheat products, and swear that they reduce inflammation greatly.
Elizabeth--your suggestion makes sense. And it's practical!
Yeah Gina, steroids like the oral "contraceptive" high dose steroid you and/or your dim witted air head chick friends ingest, inject, implant or wear in or on your body....that's it, nice slow trickle of cancer-causing and multiple side effect causing (more than 150 known side effects) from those abortifacient "contraceptives" that the Sandra Flukes of the world want us taxpayers to pay for...smooth move, ex-lax.
The steriod drug is probably already regulated not only in accordance with the commerce clause in the U S Constitution, DOT, or Postal regulations because it was shipped over or across state lines but also because aren't all steriods regulated as news about athletes getting in trouble with them would indicate?
Wishfully, I would like to know more about the big picture including the ethics of the people involved to see if they are like what is being said about the 1%ers, about irresponsible and unscrupulous business people, and about the decline of morals and of our society. So, I hope a big investigation occurs to further reveal the truth, if possible, about the issues involved, issues such as whether a certain amount of collateral damage is deemed acceptable, whether absentminded negligence, disdain for the law, religious belief and expectation that God doesn't punish good people, or an anti-science attitude was responsible for the contamination, whether any entrepreneur (or capitalist) in this particular case has repeatedly done this sort of thing using tricks of the trade, of the legal and financial establishment, or of globalism's protections or other government given protections and immunity to liability to keep himself or herself from being liable traded as inducements for the jobs and business, whether any entrepreneur was responsible this one time only (maybe his or her first time of getting in trouble) for not paying attention to his or her investment because they are too distracted or preoccupied with their other activities, or whether any entrepreneur was acting like an HMO in putting profits ahead of lives, and etc.
Harvard or another one of the universities in Boston should do a study, as Framingham, Massachusetts is right around the corner from them. Harvard should stop sending derivatives traders to Wall Street and start educating real manufacturing; it's been said before that real manufacturing has been abandoned in the business schools, but this is a prime example of why that should not have happened.
I think Bush did it.
Guess this wouldn't work on the many 'spineless' politicians out there.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR MEDICINE COMES FROM CHINA
Under Obama, the FDA is a Third World style Certifier of contaminated and untested manufactured drugs from around the world. One more example showing how the Federal Government is totally incapable of doing anything right.
This medicine came from Framingham, Massachusetts. READ.
I think the State of Michigan is the only state where a person harmed by a contaminated drug cannot sue the manufacturer. It's called the "Drug Immunity Law". This law goes back to the 1990s and Gov. Engler. I'll bet the repealing of this law will get some attention again, as some of the meningitis cases are in this state.
Will that law be repealed any time soon?
There have been several attempts to repeal the Drug Immunity Law since its enactment, but NO to any time soon. The persons with meningitis from Michigan from this outbreak are royally stuck (pun intended) and are not even entitled to a day in court.
Don't let your state be next!
There is no such thing as royally stuck. These individuals are, but everybody else in the state can campaign to put better legislators into the state government. Many people ignore state representatives, but they shouldn't, because most of the laws are state or local.
Corn syrup is now made using this aspergillus (sp?) fungus, and this can cause many problems. Molds and fungus can have some of the strongest toxins, even in parts per billion they can be dangerous.
The article says that this form of meningitis can take a few weeks to develop. Are there any other injections that could be vulnerable to contamination with this fungus? Most often, if there are strange symptoms, doctors will just wave their hands and say that the patient must be making up the symptoms. A few bother to culture samples and see what is really wrong.
I was notified Thursday by my Drs in Mass that i was injected in Aug and Sept with the recalled meds. Basically I'm sitting around worried and waiting...yes I'm mad but not at my Drs but at the place where the drugs were mixed. I have no answers. All i can do is wait and pray i don't get sick....it sucks!
Is there any way that you can have preventative anti-fungal drugs? I would ask for several opinions, including from the state health department, and certainly from infectious disease specialists. The universities in Mass. advertise that they are superlative, so they should be aware not only about this problem but the best course of action. Waiting for a stroke is not my idea of a good idea.
I wonder why this particular pharmacy wasn't regulated by the fda. Why are we as consumers lead to believe by our government, that our medicine is being regulated? It's bad enough the side affects from these drugs and now the unclean conditions just compounds our worries.
@!$%#.
I also had 2 epidurals. One in August and another one the end of September. I am in Pennsylvania where nothing has shown up yet...that I know of. I am just waiting, praying and hoping for the best. I guess that's all we can do at this point............Good luck to those of you who are also waiting. I know how you feel.
This is the CDC's list of providers who were sent the contaminated steroids.
If your clinic is on the list, you should contact them to make sure.
I do wish people wouldn't post God stuff on here but instead stay on topic. Add to that the fact that everyone is entitled to their own religious beliefs - or none, as the case may be. I am so sick of those who insist on harping on at everyone in an effort to force them into a particular religion-faction of a religion - just as sick as I am of those who dictate My Way Or the Highway politics.
Angela Lee, we wish you wouldn't post your hatred and intolerance for those with <sigh> "God stuff" to add to the assinine medical advice all these non-health professionals have to offer. But better that than your house of hate and bigotry...
IMO, all Nobel Prizes became irrelevant after 2009.
My thoughts and prayers are with those who were injected with these contaminated steroids. After seeing this situation in the news, I've decided that if ever I am in a situation where pain indicates a steroid injection, I will try other remedies first, particularly the natural ones, and diet. I know that not all conditions can be helped with that kind of approach, such as compression fractures of the spine (I know several people with that condition), but with other conditions, it would definitely be worth a try for MSM, etc. Unfortunately, we currently live in a 'buyer beware' society. I have heeded this warning!
Lisa, the problem was not with the methylprednisolone, it was with the extemporaneously prepared product's microbial status, owing (probably, just guessing here) to poor aseptic technique at the preparation site. I just have to double over laughing at the assinine medical advice everyone of the experts here are offering.
I understand what you are saying--manufacturing technique, especially with things that are supposed to be sterile. This particular company site has had previous problems, according to other news articles. I'ts just that when something is injected into ones spine, there is a certain amount of higher risk involved--a company with problems in their manufacturing just increases that risk exponentially. And we do live in a 'let the buyer beware' world these days. Just think of China: Melanine in baby formula and dog food, lead in kids trinkets, lead in various items from China. Example: My husband came home from Home Depot with a new water sprinkler. I was looking at the box it came in--"Made in China" and "May contain lead". Also, because I am gluten sensitive, I HAVE to read labels and also know the 'hidden' gluten that can be in a product--or I pay the 'price' if I eat it. These are just a few examples--there are a lot more examples out there. I think that overall, if patients would be part of their own medical treatment team, it improves their treatment outcome. Of course, one should talk to their physician--and most physicians won't be opposed to a patient desiring a dietary change as long as it does not contraindicate any condition that the patient may have.
A friend of mine just turned down an offer for just such an injection,2 days before this report came out from the CDC. They just needed help to sleep past the pain.
Not me. The gov't is here to help is quite the scary thing. That said, I became a medical coder more than a decade ago because the Insurance companies weren't honoring their contracts with patients! They make too much money NOT paying for procedures that they have to invest in losing corporations to write off money. Why they don't pay according to their contracts. However, in actual billing of Medicare they will arbitrarily deny payments and wait to see how many billers will rebill for payment. So.... I agree that something needs to be done but the problem is insurance. As long as we have the insurance companies practising medicine and not having much oversight there will be a problem. for a partial knee replacement, my surgeon only recieved a few hundred dollars but the total bill was thousands. I really don't think being required to do business with insurance companies is even a mildly good idea. It's just wrong.
One more thing.... I have had a couple of the steroid injections in my lower spine. Didn't work. Kayaking, on the other hand, has given me enormous pain relief and more freedom of movement. I asked my physical therapist if it would help and he was all for it. So, if you have a bad back, go rent a kayak for a day to see if it helps you. It gives me several days of immediate relief and it is core strengthening so that helps in the long term as well.
My sympathies for those who are waiting to find out if they will be affected and prayers for those who are.
Not smart to give uneducated medical advice ecclesia....what if it has the opposite effect in someone else with spinal issues? Can they call your malpractice insurance company to collect? Yeah, that's what I thought...
This is the FIRST drive by state run media chick who actually named the DRUG and the FUNGUS in question. However, the correct name is methylprednisolone acetate, not methylprednisone (there is no such drug). Leave it to someone who actually knows the drug field, honey.
Susan, RoMar, and all of you who have posted with your concerns if possibly you may have been treated with this inject-able. I am thinking of you and hoping you get the answers you need when you speak with your physicians. Thinking of you all.
Ecclesia, if I jumped into a kayak and did what you advised, I'd be flat on the floor for 2 weeks. :-) Saying that, everyone is different in their treatment plans and strenuous exercise, indeed, does work for some people in aiding their spinal pain control regimen. For others, that kayak ride could put them in a surgical bed. Am glad it works for you though.
One difference between Canada and the U.S. is that in general, we tend to have more government regulations. More regulations on health care, banking, etc. In general, the higher level of regulations works well for us. (One exception to this rule is meat inspections where we need to clean up our act!). In Canada, whenever we have a Liberal government the regulations increase, and whenever we have a Conservative government the regulations are downgraded, to the eventual detriment of somebody. Having watched this cycle for 30 years, I have to say that Mitt Romney scares me.
The public execution (televised on national TV) of EVERY SENIOR PERSON of that company is the only satisfactory outcome to this.