By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
At least 105 people in nine states, including Florida, have contracted meningitis. The outbreak is allegedly due to contaminated epidural spinal injections of methylprednisolone linked to New England Compounding Center (NECC) in Framingham, Massachusetts. The manufacturing center is now closed, and the company has issued a voluntary recall of all products distributed since January 2012.
Click here to see the recall announcement from NECC.
Voluntary Recall Due to Investigation By the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
On October 6, 2012, NECC announced the recall of all products currently in circulation. This action was taken out of caution and in conjunction with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigation.
To see a list of all NECC recalled products, click here.
The Tennessee DOH notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on September 21, 2012, about a case of meningitis that a patient contracted about 19 days after receiving an epidural injection. One week later another case was reported in a different state.
NECC has suspended its operations while the investigation continues.
Meningitis Cases in Florida.
According to the Florida Department of Health (DOH), eight Florida centers have received the contaminated medication. The centers are:
- Florida Pain Clinic, Ocala,
- Marion Pain Management Center, Ocala,
- Orlando Center for Outpatient Surgery, Orlando,
- Pain Consultants of West Florida, Pensacola,
- Surgery Center of Ocala, Ocala,
- Surgical Park Center, Miami,
- Interventional Rehab Center, Pensacola, and
- North County Surgicenter, Palm Beach.
Eye Infections from Florida Compounding Pharmacy.
I previously blogged about the problems encountered by Franck’s pharmacy in Ocala, Florida. It has been accused of distributing eye medications that contained a fungal infection. Click here for the first blog and here for the second blog.
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Sources:
Jacobson, Susan “Orlando Clinic Injected Patients with Steroid Linked to Meningitis Outbreak.” Orlando Sentinel. (October 5, 2012). From: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-meningitis-outbreak-orlando-20121005,0,4108088.story
Reynolds, Hue. “Florida Department of Health Update: New England Compounding Center Voluntary Product Recall.” Florida Department of Health. (October 7, 2012). From: http://newsroom.doh.state.fl.us/wp-content/uploads/newsroom/2012/10/NECCVoluntaryProductRecall.pdf
About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.
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