Monday, June 3, 2013

Illnesses rise to 24 from Newbern pharmacy


The number of infections being blamed on a Tennessee drug compounder has jumped to 24 and another state, Arkansas, has been added to the original list of three reporting adverse events.
The outbreak is being blamed on steroids shipped by the Main Street Family Pharmacy in Newbern. The other infections have been reported in Florida, North Carolina and Illinois, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Woody McMillin, spokesman for the Tennessee Health Department, said no infections have been reported in this state, though the drug company did ship products to seven health facilities in the state, including a clinic in White House.
The outbreak comes on the heels of a nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak caused by the same steroid, methyl prednisolone acetate. Those drugs were shipped across the country by the New England Compounding Center, which has shut down and is in bankruptcy.
Main Street Family Pharmacy has recalled all of its sterile drugs.
Contact Walter F. Roche Jr. at wroche@tennessean.com or 615-259-8086.
quoted from here

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