Michigan residents have been hit hard by the fungal meningitis outbreak linked to contaminated steroid medications made by New England Compounding Center (NECC), a compounding pharmacy in Framingham, MA. The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) is reporting the state currently has 21 cases of meningitis, including two deaths, associated with this outbreak, and one infection of a joint associated with this outbreak. Septic arthritis cases associated with NECC steroid products used for pain shots are rising.
“My experience with these kinds of cases is that this kind of product contamination is the result of lapsed, inadequate or nonexistent safety procedures,” said Attorney Fred Pritzker, who has been contacted by many patients who had the epidural steroid injections that are the source of this outbreak. Pritzker and his Bad Bug Law Team are independently investigating this outbreak to find out what went wrong and to determine patients’ options for compensation. Pritzker can be contacted for a free consultation regarding a New England Compounding Center lawsuit.
The meningitis wrongful death cases include two women, a 56 year old and a 67-year-old from Howell whose husband was also treated with the medication and is being monitored.
The fast-growing outbreak has sickened at least 105 people in nine states and killed eight people, all of whom received epidural steroid injections that were produced by New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Mass. some time after May 21, 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Michigan health officials expect the number of patients sickened in this outbreak to increase. The age range of current identified cases is 38-89 years old.
All infected patients in Michigan received an injection with one of three lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate prepared by the New England Compounding Center. NECC has recalled this steroid medication and it is no longer being used by the four facilities in Michigan that received it. They are: the Michigan Neurosurgical Institutes in Grand Blanc, Michigan Pain Specialists in Brighton, Neuromuscular and Rehabilitation in Traverse City and Southeast Michigan Surgical Hospital in Warren.
