By Mike Stobbe
| Monday, Oct 15, 2012 | Updated 4:20 PM CDT
Two more drugs from a specialty pharmacy linked to a meningitis
outbreak are now being investigated, U.S. health officials said, as they urged
doctors to contact patients who got any kind of injection from the company.
The New England Compounding Center of Framingham,
Massachusetts, has been under scrutiny since last month, when a rare fungal form
of meningitis was linked to its steroid shots used mostly for back pain.
Monday's step by the Food and Drug Administration followed two
developments. One was a report of a meningitis illness in a patient who got
another type of steroid made by the company.
The agency also learned of two heart transplant patients who
got fungal infections after being given a third product from the company during
surgery.
The illnesses are under investigation, and it's very possible
the heart patients were infected by another source, FDA officials cautioned.
They did not say whether fungal meningitis was involved in the new report.
The current outbreak has sickened 214 people, including 15 who
have died. For weeks, officials have been urging doctors to contact patients who
got shots of the company's steroid methylprednisolone acetate, advise them about
the risks of fungal infection, and urge them to take any meningitis symptoms
seriously.
The steroid was recalled last month, and the company later shut
down operations and recalled all the medicines it makes.
Continue Reading here: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/NATL-New-Drugs-Eyed-in-Meningitis-Outbreak-174264031.html#ixzz29PBmZKkZ
No comments:
Post a Comment