Walter F. Roche Jr., The Tennessean 7:26 p.m. EDT September 2, 2013
ASHVILLE -- Records in a newly filed federal lawsuit indicate the official death toll among Tennessee patients from the nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak may be understated.
According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Boston last week, Gokulbhai Patel of Goodlettsville, Tenn., died Jan. 13 from fungal meningitis caused by two spinal steroid injections he received at the Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center in Nashville.
However, the official death count maintained by state and federal officials shows no deaths among Tennessee patients in that month from the outbreak blamed on Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center, the source of the tainted methylprednisolone acetate steroid injections.
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The official Tennessee death toll, which climbed to 14 in mid-December, did not increase to 15 until a Kentucky woman, who had undergone injections in Nashville and contracted fungal meningitis, died April 16. The official count remains at 15, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State health officials confirmed Thursday that no fungal meningitis deaths among Tennessee patients were reported in the month Patel died.
"We have not been made aware of any deaths that occurred in January linked to the meningitis outbreak associated with products from NECC," Shelley Walker, Tennessee Health Department spokeswoman, wrote in an email response to questions.
CDC officials said they rely upon state health officials to gather the data from health-care providers on deaths from outbreaks.
Undercount doesn't surprise attorneys
While the Patel case gives the first indication of a possible undercount in a public record, it comes as no surprise to attorneys representing victims of the outbreak.
"Clearly we don't have the exact count," said J. Gerard Stranch, who represents several area victims or their families. He said he was personally aware of about a half dozen cases not included in the official count.
Stranch said there could be a variety of reasons, including the fact that some other illness was listed as the final cause of death when, in fact, a cascade of illness was initially triggered by fungal meningitis.