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Hundreds Of Local Residents May Have Received Meningitis Contaminated Injections
October 9, 2012
Hundreds of local residents may have been injected with a meningitis contaminated batch of steroids used to treat back and joint pain.
The Escambia County Health Department and the Florida Department of Health (DOH) are working closely with Pain Consultants of West Florida and area medical facilities regarding medical problems from the use of contaminated methylprednisolone acetate in spinal injections for back pain and in joint injections for joint pain. Pain Consultants of West Florida is one of the eight facilities in Florida that have been identified as having received shipments from one or more of the CDC-identified contaminated lot numbers of this medication.
The contaminated medication may have been used in spinal and in joint injections given by Pain Consultants of West Florida between July 8, 2012, and September 28, 2012. The most current information indicates that approximately 300 patients may have received spinal injections and around 200 to 300 patients may have received joint injections during this time frame. These figures may change if further recipients are identified. The Escambia County Health Department and Pain Consultants of West Florida are coordinating efforts to identify recipient patients and contact these persons regarding this matter.
Dr. Kurt Krueger of Pain Consultants of West Florida states: “We are saddened by the effect that this widespread incident may have on our patients in the Florida panhandle and are working with area health departments to make every effort to identify and refer for evaluation all patients who may have received a contaminated injection.”
Persons having received spinal or joint injections of a steroid medication from Pain Consultants of West Florida between July 8 and September 28, 2012, should advise their primary care physician. Persons experiencing signs or symptoms of joint infection or meningitis should seek immediate medical evaluation by their physician or their local hospital emergency department. Symptoms of fungal meningitis may be milder than those normally associated with meningitis. Symptoms of fungal joint infections or meningitis can include:
Worsening of inflammatory symptoms in the treated joint including increased redness, warmth, swelling or pain
Fever, new or worsening headache, nausea, and/or new symptoms consistent with a stroke
Persons at risk of infection should call their physician to ensure that their physician is aware of their risk. More information can be obtained from the Escambia County Health Department at (850) 595-6651 or from your local health department. For individuals outside Escambia County, the Florida Department of Health has set up a toll-free hotline at (866) 523-7339.
Comments
8 Responses to “Hundreds Of Local Residents May Have Received Meningitis Contaminated Injections”
@ JimD,
No one gets rich in a class action lawsuit except the lawyers. You’d be lucky to get any money at all out of it. Take it from me, if you are going to file a lawsuit, do it as an individual. And, you should only sue for what is considered fair and reasonable, not to get rich.
JimD,
You can not be exposed to this type of meningitis, it is not contagious. The pharmacy has recalled all of it’s products and turned in their license to the FDA effectively shutting themselves down. There will be lawsuits soon. The local lawyers will not let this opportunity for profit pass them by. Expect a class action lawsuit to cover all those involved. This thing is still running it’s course. Legal action is imminent.
I can’t believe with all of the publicity over this, and whether anyone is infected or not…where are the law suits on this company, and why are they still in business? Just the thought of being a “possible” person that was exposed, or that I was provided an injection from that batch would have me looking for a lawyer.
Please be aware of where you may have had your injections. As previously pointed out, Pain Consultants of Northwest Florida are NOT the as West Florida Hospital. Nor is West Florida Hospital the same as the Medical Center Clinic. Dr. Krueger and associates are not employed by either. However, be assured that the CDC and the medical providers do keep good records of medication providers and at this time, if you have received back injections from other clinics than those specifically noted to have received these specific medications, you should be fine from the meningitis outbreak. If you are worried, I would contact your physician’s office to be certain that they did not purchase their drugs from this specific company. However, the companies and the CDC usually keep very good records of who purchased what medications for treatment
When I first heard of this story they also stated the IRC also received a shipment of a contaminated batch. Is this still true? And @Gayle – west fl hospital and pain consultants of west Florida are two different entities. So hopefully you did not receive a bad batch. You should still get checked anyways, just to be safe.
Im sure this person is going to get help, It is very scary to find this out when I found out I called my Drs office to tell them they was not nice but its just because for over a month she had been telling me nothing is wrong with me I will be going to get checked at the ER though but it was nice to see someone else post who is alsoscared of the unknown.
Ms. Aldridge you need to go get checked. Tell your doctor and not the posters on forum. Good luck.
June and July 2012 i have had 2 back injections at West Florida Hospital i have been having head aches and nausea (LORD) i hope i don’t get this mess i had Sprial Mininigitis back when Century Hospital was open Dr Strewart was my Doctor years ago!!!! Everyone becareful about getting your back injections.