More Meningitis Cases Surface in Indiana
By: Robert Bumsted
Updated: October 7, 2012
Health officials announced Sunday that more cases of fungal meningitis have surfaced in Indiana. According to an Indiana Department of Health Spokesman, eight people have now become infected state-wide.
The infections are part of an outbreak that started with tainted medication distributed by a Massachusetts facility. Federal officials say a batch of steroids used to treat back pain somehow became contaminated with the fungus at the New England Compounding Center.
Officials say the drug was first given to patients in the spring, and was distributed to more than 70 doctors across the country. On Sunday, the CDC said 91 people had become infected and seven had died as a result.
The medication was distributed to clinics in five Indiana cities, including Fort Wayne Physical Medicine. The clinic released a statement last week saying that it had not used the tainted medication on its patients.
WFFT asked health officials on Sunday if any of the infected patients in Indiana lived in the Fort Wayne area, but a spokesman declined to comment.
The infections are part of an outbreak that started with tainted medication distributed by a Massachusetts facility. Federal officials say a batch of steroids used to treat back pain somehow became contaminated with the fungus at the New England Compounding Center.
Officials say the drug was first given to patients in the spring, and was distributed to more than 70 doctors across the country. On Sunday, the CDC said 91 people had become infected and seven had died as a result.
The medication was distributed to clinics in five Indiana cities, including Fort Wayne Physical Medicine. The clinic released a statement last week saying that it had not used the tainted medication on its patients.
WFFT asked health officials on Sunday if any of the infected patients in Indiana lived in the Fort Wayne area, but a spokesman declined to comment.
