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Subscribe to RSSThe number of known patients has grown to more than 105 with eight deaths after tainted steroid injections were linked to a fast-growing meningitis outbreak. NBC's Tom Costello reports.
The number of people infected with a rare type of meningitis tied to contaminated steroid injections has climbed to 119, federal health officials said Tuesday. Eleven people have died.
The drugs were given starting May 21, much earlier than previously suspected, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Infections and deaths have been reported in nine states. As many as 13,000 patients may have been exposed to the potentially contaminated drugs recalled from a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy, officials added.
Cases have been identified in 10 states and health officials fear the numbers will continue to 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.
New Jersey has now reported its first meningitis case that may be linked to the contaminated injections. Tennessee continues to log the most victims, with 35 cases and four deaths. In Virginia, 23 cases have been confirmed, with one death. Michigan has reported 21 cases and two deaths, while Maryland has reported five cases and one death.
Other affected states include Florida, with four cases; Indiana with 11 cases; Minnesota with three cases, North Carolina with two cases and Ohio with one case, officials said.
The drug in question is called methylprednisolone acetate and is used mostly to treat older patients for lower back pain.
The contaminated drugs have been traced to the New England Compounding Center, a single compounding pharmacy. The pharmacy has closed voluntarily, relinquished its state license 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.
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.
In Tennessee, health workers contacted 66 patients who may have been infected, in some cases going door-to-door to inform them of the risk and to answer questions, state officials said.
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
- Officials widen recall in meningitis outbreak
- Meningitis outbreak points to pharmacy problem
Leave a Comment:
government plans to get rid of us jesse ventura said this was coming
the shocking news about this , the FDA does not regulate.
I am going through flashback nightmares. My wife has had systemic fungal infections on too numerous to count occasions. The infectious disease specialist says she is the only patient he knows of who has survived more than 3 of these infections. He is on the CDC panel that directed things during the Anthrax scare. One of the best in country.
Her infections come through IV contamination also....doesn't matter what the source....we are talking HORRIBLE. The most common is Candida Albicans, something like that...and there are others.
Here is how it goes. Temperature goes low, she gets chills and shakes. Headaches off the charts. Then the fever sets in. She has spiked as high as 107 degrees in less than an hour. At this point if we are not enroute to hospital, she would probly die.
Next is horrific pain in every joint in the body. On more than one occasion she has begged me to shoot her. Morphine, demerol, dilaudid.....max doses. I can't imagine the process without pain meds. One of the "fringe benefits" of the high power pain meds....she has no memory of the pain after the fact.
I tell the docs all the time to "give ME some of that @!$%#" so I can forget!!!!! Wifey and I agree it is harder to watch someone go through it than to be the patient because I remember it all.
Then there is the AMPHITERYCIN(?)....VANCOMYCIN....and 2 or 3 other anti-fungals. "Amphi-terrible" as we call it does things like make fingernails and toenails fall out, does liver and kidney damage, and more. Either that or die. The Vancomycin has given her permanent ringing in the ears.
Once they used an experimental antifungal on her because they had no choice. Told me later the 1 dose cost about $6000. It worked.
I am not afraid of much...but you say fungal infection, and I freak out. The hell of it is, the thing that causes this infection lives everywhere...even on the skin.
Not that I'll ever get used to it....but at least we know what to expect. For someone going through it for the first time....wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy....come to think of it, I don't have enemies.
I've had multiple systemic fungal infections too, most likely a result of taking immune-suppressing drugs like Enbrel and prednisone. Not many people survive having systemic pulmonary aspergillosis and cryptococcal meningitis at the same time, but aggressive IV anti-fungal treatment (amphotericin) followed by months of oral voriconazole worked, but it all was quite debilitating.
I don't understand why doctors should have to "seek out" these possibly-exposed fungal patients. Most folks who develop systemic fungal infections will get very ill, and those with meningitis will be having the worst headache of their life that won't respond to any treatment.
I didn't get that either AMIET.
Wow, what's really scary is that you and me know all those words!!!!
And I can't imagine any of the patients not getting sick within 24 hours. One of wifey's infections was caused by compromised sterile technique by a home-care nurse. She was "on the edge of death" in less than an hour.
And I didn't even kill the nurse, but she don't come to our house anymore.
No problem... I mean afterall, it's only Menengitis... no worries, right?
So don't panic or anything because menengitis is only about as severe as a bee-sting, right?
...oh.hang on a sec.....oOOoooh!!......someone just handed me a note and....
OOOOPS!!...ye-e-e-ah...no, no... I was wrong...
AAAaahm. Well? ...hmm... uhmm...okay...
...apparently my sources are now telling me that it is perfectly resonable to panic!!!
AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Just had injections knowing full well the risk. with the non-ceasing pain and the management of pain meds and the stigma it brings with it (from doctors more than others),and all I can say is , 'bring it on'.
I am tired. I am tired of both the non-verbal and verbal accusations from friends and family and idiots that have no clue as to what pain is...just bring it on.
Your personal medical decisions aren't anyone else's, and if you felt you needed to do it that was your right. I just wish you relief from your pain. I hope no one "brings it on", since only you know what you live with. Good luck to you.
Hey JD4U,
If you are not HIV positive, your chances are much better. I have been expecting AIDS related small or unusual outbreak of illnesses ie rare illnesses will become big news. So what does all that mean? you are likely if not HIV positive from sexual contact then the injection even if leads to sickness is likely to be a minor problem, for those that have AIDS/HIV are more likely to have death as the end game because of the reduced potency of the immune system,
Sincerely,
verong
note: If you are affected by an injection of this stuff have a HIV/AIDS test this will likely rule in or out the illness becoming deadly, since having HIV/AIDS would put you at high risk of death verses somebody that has not The HIV/AIDS virus. It is like 50:50 with HIV/AIDS verses 1:100,000 without HIV/AIDS
Note#2: Without HIV/AIDS infection this is a treatable illness!
Keith: Note my post above....there are many, many causes for immune deficiency besides HIV.
My wife has short bowel syndrome....has had ALL of her intestines removed. Gets nutrition thru IV only. The gut is a major part of immune system, so she has none. Maintaining sterility with the permanent IV line is an ABSOLUTE requirement. Constant vigilance at home.
JD4U, I think, is referring to steroid injections for back pain...and that chronic severe pain would make him take the injection....contaminated or not.
JD: Wifey is on Fentenyl 125mcg patches. 8mg dilauded tablets, with SOMA and FIORICET for HA caused by malnutrition.
I know what you mean about those on the periphery making judgements about pain meds. We also know that with constant severe pain there is no life. Whatever it takes to have what little quality comes with some conditions is not asking to much.
JD4U - Been there, done that with the steroid injections for really nasty back pain. I wish you well.
There is nothing quite like unending back pain for making life pure misery.
Most of these victims probably didnt pay any income tax.
What the f are you talking about? Bob, that was an obnoxious post. How about some sympathy for the victims instead of that nonsense? And what difference does it make if they didn't or did pay income tax?
Ram you are absolutely right, was the storie even read by "Bob", I bet you most of these patients were in their 50's, and the reason I come to that conclusion is that it was given to most of them probably as a pain management alternative after years of back pain. Steroids are also used to treat joint problems, which more often seen in the same age group. What an idiot, too bad he's not feeling a headache, nausea, and stiffness in the neck. Instead he causes what he is, a big pain in the as*.
Oh, Bob read the story alright, but it just doesn't matter. The political divide is so great in this country today that people like Bob just can't help themselves. It's sad, really, but he has nothing of intelligence to say regarding any article on any topic, so he interjects political sludge.
I cannot believe you said that, you know life is the most precious gift to be given. You couldnt afford my life, but to say something as crass as that is terrible. It is obvious your parents didn't disipline you enough. Money doesnt mean @!$%# in the end my friend, you cant take it where you go, alot of the handicapped community do work pay taxes and never see a return because they cant afford to pay for their returns to be filed. You sir are a monster-spawn of greed.
I can't imagine why the community collapsed Bob's comment.....
But I'm TOTALLY blown away that he got 2 "thumbs up" on that post.
Even if this were an FDA approved company, it wouldn't have mattered. I used to work for a medical device company that was under FDA control, but we just saw them about once a year, if that. And we always knew in advance of their arrival. We could have put out junk 364 days of the year for all they knew. We just had to spiff up for that one visit. Its really pure luck that problems like this don't occur more often. By the way, the company moved overseas.
Correct. Many drugs and devices are FDA approved and not pulled from the market until too many have been affected. Pharmaceutical and medical device companies ( many times in cahoots with the agencies that are supposed to regulate them) have big bucks at stake and make it a long procedure to have their products removed from the market. In many cases it is the voice of consumers and other groups that get harmful products off the market, not the companies concern for human welfare. Many drugs are black boxed long before they are removed.
Yikes! Scary sheet!
Lumbar epidurals for low back pain are a multi-billion dollar market and many more are hurt by them than the medical community reveals. The majority getting them may have no problems, but for those that do, the problems can be incredibly serious, painful, and outright debilitating. Imagine - they are injecting a toxin, typically, Depo Medrol, within millimeters of your spine. The procedure itself is risky, but then you add injection of a toxic substance that the drug manufacturer (Pfizer) states in their drug spec sheet to NOT use for epidurals. The doctors use them anyway "off label". All for 1 week to 1 month of pain relief! If anyone thinks it "cured" their pain it's not true. They must have had resolution of the cause of their pain - the epidurals only allege to provide relief of pain. Google "Did Depo Medrol Hurt You". Great 7 minute video to explain much about this, plus other information. I was hurt by Depo Medrol - don't you or your loved ones be, too - all for the almighty dollar!
Marguerite...I think what you are saying is true, steroids can ease the worst of the pain while the injury is healing. But there is still pain. Steroids aren't that great.
I just had another round of this shortly before this was announced, but my state is not on the list so far at least. I get the injections in my head for occipital neuralgia and they make my life so much better. They are very pricey though. The medicine is only about $80 for four injections, but the "surgical fee" to give the shots is $1800.
I used to get these injections, I stopped b/c they only helped for a few days - and I thought it wasn't good to get too many. Boy was I right!
LYNNE:
What do you do for the pain now???
Please get the medical aspects of this story correct--the contaminated solution is not injected into the patients' spinal fluid. It would be injected into the epidural space, which is just outside the space containing the spinal fluid. Doesn't NBC have a medical expert edit these medical stories prior to publication/distribution to the web???
@!$%# MSNBC Can not afford a good editor or proof rearer and you want a medical doctor on their payroll?
This is terrible and that sounds like there will be a lot of sick people, and a very long road ahead. I think they said 17,000+ vials were distributed.
I almost went for that several years ago, and decided on the pills instead. The back pain wasn't so crippling after that, but the side effects were awful, and I got pneumonia from it. I don't know what is worse, Meningitis or pneumonia, since I read that there are more than 50,000 deaths a year from pneumonia.
Steroids are terrible anyway.
"The pharmacy has closed voluntarily, relinquished its state license and recalled its products, which include steroids, painkillers and dozens of other drugs."
Why is this facility considered a pharmacy and not a pharmaceutical company? It also sounds to me as if the company has closed its doors and left the building to never be found again. Who is responsible for the deaths?
I'm guessing its considered a pharmacy because they mix and send the medication (in what is supposed to be a steril environment) to be administered but its not manufactured there. Drugs that have to be delivered by professionals don't come directly from a pharmacy like a Walgreens, they come from a pharmacy like the one listed above. A pharmaceutical company manufactures the steriod which is sent to a pharmacy which preps the material to be issued to hospitals upon request for injection. I'd think of it like prepping antibiotics, your Dr. prescribes them, calls it into the pharmacy, they mix it up to the right concentration and give it to you, no pharmaceutcal company involvment.
JPMADMAX:
You are right for some drugs. However, in this case, this place made a drug product that is also available from true pharmaceutical manufacturers. They are not supposed to do this. I believe they did not include alcohol in thier formulation. That actually made things worse. Sterile drugs should not be made in pharmacies if it can be helped. There are significant controls in place at pharma companies to make these types of drugs. These are not present at the compounding pharmacies.
I am scheduled for tomorrow to have an epidural at the 3 and 4 disk because of a buldge exposing the disk, to help with the pain. This all comes to light to scare the hell out of me now. In Texas I hope that my doctor can assure me that the steriods did not come from that dissappearing crook pharm. I hope that they can tell where there supply is manufactured from. God help me cause I need this shot. I don't know what to do now.
Get the shot. Your doctor would have to be extremely incompetant to use the affected material.
Soylent Green isn't far off.
The saddest thing is alot of MS patients use this therapy when in flare to get under control. I often have wondered about Pharma and Medical Insurance Companies being intertwined. The reality of this disaster is it could effect alot of people, Fungal Menengitis and Aspergillis were the two item contaminates according to NPR news...Menengitis on compromised immune system could be fatal, Aspergillis can be fatal to someone who's immune system is not fatal.
There are only a handful of phrases I would never want to hear in my lifetime when pertaining to myself and...
...is definitely one of them...
the lawyers will get rich putting those physicians clinics and drug companies out of business. It's best to try exercise - muscle strengthening and weight loss. Not worth the risks to have these procedures. back to the old remedy -- weight loss, strength training. your skeletal system is very small and only as good as the muscles that hold it together.
"It's best to try exercise."
Spoken like someone who has never been affected by crippling back pain.
Or by somebody that knows how to help prevent it (and thus, has never been affected by it).
Business can self-regulate. No need for government regulation.
If you believe that, I've got a perpetual motion machine I'll sell you.
FDA does not have any play in what gets sold, look at the crap they approve, most have side effects that will kill you. it is like the Better Business Bureau, it has lost it's usefulness when it takes money from people wanting their garbage approved. hell there are products out there not approved but is still for sale.
I was dumb-struck when I read that line. A company that compounds injectible medications. Beyond scary since my wife has 4 bottles of single dose injectibles EVERY DAY.
Who DOES regulate these businesses???? I'll be doing some investigation on the companies listed on my wife's injectibles.
I described her situation above. Now I wonder how many of her infections were due to compounding contamination.
Let me guess. George Bush did it
It occurs to me to ask, where exactly did the fungus get introduced. Was it at the New England Compounding Center or was it in a componant used to make up the methylprednisolone acetate? Do the components come from an off-site supplier and might the contamination come from the other supplier? Finally what other customers might be using that component?
This news has been freaking me out since I read the so-called outbreak from this link semphi.com/post/1349768889/rare-fungal-meningitis-outbreak-hits-9-states-in-the-us (just skip the link), and I have been researching some cause of this fungal meningitis and what is all about. I found out that it is not contagious unlike the virus and bacteria meningitis. I think media has been exaggerating the news and it is not a "real outbreak" because outbreak means "sudden increase", only those who are injected would only catch this. Making it short there should be no worries if we are not injected.
Why was this drug not compounded locally instead of being made in one place and sent over the country? How long did the drug sit around before it was used? Anything like that I made while working in a hospital pharmacy was given a 24 hour expiration date and kept refrigerated until used.
If the pic of the bottle in this article is a Pfizer bottle then the authors have a problem. They have nothing to do with this problem.
Aspergillosis causes a problem for those immune compromised people such as those with HIV/AIDS, Lyme disease and other tickborne illnesses and the Thai and Taiwanese people who are showing up with immune compromisation. NIH and NIAID and IOM and WHO and CDC need to get busy figuring out how to stop this immune compromisation or reverse it. Our military are coming back with chronic infectious diseases as well and they are the same ones we are seeing pop up in LYME patients. Borrelia is one of many pathogens you can get from a tick. Coxiella burnetti, or Q fever, Brucella, Chlamydias, Mycoplasmas, Bartonella, Babesia, All kinds of rickettsiales like Rocky Mountain Spotted fever and others. Coxsackie A and B viruses, Powassan Virus, Tick borne encephalitis. See AVMA.org for a listing of pathogens that hunters are getting. Once the immune system is compromised we are easy fodder and open season for many more opportunistic infections. Lyme patients and these Asians are getting the same opportunistic pathogens as AIDS patients. NON HIV AIDS is what we have. Much time and research has been spent on HIV/AIDS and now on the Asians from Thailand and Taiwan. What the hell is wrong with our health organizations in that they are watching lyme patients crumble before their eyes. THIS IS CRIMINAL !!