The national outbreak of fungal meningitis infections has grown to 119 patients in 10 states. At least 11 people have died in the outbreak, most of them from Exserohilum meningitis, others from Aspergillus meningitis. Many of these patients also had strokes. The implicated product is a steroid product manufactured by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. The steroids were injected into the patients’ spinal areas (lumbar epidural steroid injections).
Attorney Fred Pritzker has handled many cases like these and recently won $45,000,000 for clients injured by another defective medical product. Contact Fred for a free consultation here regarding a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit against New England Compounding Center (NECC) and possibly others.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate the outbreak at the national level. The New England Compounding Center has closed and ceased operation since the outbreak was discovered.
CDC and FDA have advised health care providers to stop using any products produced by NECC. The steroid product implicated in this outbreak was used by providers in 23 states, so it is likely that others were also sickened. The states include the following: 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. There are confirmed cases in Tennessee (mostly in the Nashville area), Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.
If your loved one recently had a spinal injection (probably for pain) and then developed meningitis, you may have a case, and we urge you to contact Fred for help. Anyone with symptoms of fungal meningitis should get medical attention immediately. Symptoms may include headache, worsening of a headache that was already present, fever, sensitivity to light, stiff neck, or pain at the site where they received their injection. Many of the patients who became ill also had symptoms of stroke, such as weakness, difficulty with speech, visual changes or altered consciousness. The symptoms typically appear anywhere from one to four weeks after receiving the injection, but could begin earlier or later.
Our personal injury and wrongful death lawyers represent clients throughout the United States in lawsuits against manufacturers, distributors and others legally responsible for injury and death caused by contaminated products. In this case, we suspect that Aspergillus and/or Exserohilum contaminated the steroid product during manufacturing (compounding). Many of the people sickened are from Tennessee and were treated at one outpatient surgical center/pain management clinic in Nashville, Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgery Center.
