New Complications from National Meningitis Outbreak

January 01, 2013 (Press-News.org) When people seek medical treatment, they rarely consider that the people they are hoping will cure them might actually make them worse off. Thousands of people looking for relief from pain unwittingly exposed themselves to a meningitis infection in the fall of 2012, and the nightmare for many patients continues even after they battled the meningitis infection.

Meningitis outbreak

In mid-September 2012, reports surfaced that people were developing meningitis after having received steroid injections in their backs. Authorities traced the tainted injections to the New England Compounding Center. The company prepared and shipped medicine to facilities in 19 states.

On September 26, 2012, the company recalled the injections after the Food and Drug Administration became involved in the matter. FDA investigations revealed a "greenish black foreign matter" in the vials and that several of the supposedly sterile rooms where the company prepared the injections had mold or bacterial growth in them.

New infections

On November 7, 2012 the 42-day "risk period" designated by the Center for Disease Control ended. As many as 1,400 people received potentially tainted injections. Of those people, more than 400 patients developed meningitis and 37 people died from the disease.

Doctors then performed magnetic resonance imaging tests on 128 patients with new or worsening symptoms, and discovered that 52 percent of those patients had developed secondary infections after the meningitis subsided. These infections were abscesses or bone infections in the spine. Furthermore, doctors are now reporting cases of patients developing these infections from the tainted injections without ever having had meningitis.

Talk to a lawyer

Patients who have suffered from the contaminated injections may be wondering how to recover for their injuries. Some have filed suit against the New England Compounding Center under a product liability theory, arguing that the company sold a dangerous product that caused harm. The company has filed bankruptcy and closed as a result of the meningitis outbreak, so patients may have difficulty getting compensation from the company.

Others have filed suit against the health care providers that gave them the injections under the belief that it was medical malpractice to use unsafe medication. They argued that the doctors and hospitals should have investigated the safety of the medication more thoroughly before using it.

If you have been injured by a health care provider, see the assistance of a seasoned personal injury attorney with broad experience successfully handling such complex cases. A lawyer can help you recover the compensation you need to support yourself while recovering from your injuries.

Article provided by Furr & Henshaw
Visit us at www.scmedicalmalpractice.com