Patients who contracted fungal meningitis from tainted steroid injections are continuing to struggle with complications related to the illness. For instance, a 73-year-old man spent a grueling 18 days in the hospital with fungal meningitis, only to be brought back to the hospital after his initial release for 25 days to treat a spinal abscess caused by a tainted injection. Similar patterns of continuing health complications have occurred with many of the tainted steroid victims, according to health officials.
Since November, 37 people have died as a result of the tainted injections and hundreds more have suffered serious health problems. Approximately 14,000 people received the tainted injections from the New England Compounding Center, which has been subsequently shut down. At this point, it is still unknown how the contaminating fungus was able to enter the substances at the compounding center.
As a personal injury attorney in Chicago, I have handled cases dealing with various prescription drug issues. Regardless of how the contaminating fungi actually entered the substances, I am confident that the negligence of those in charge at the New England Compounding Center allowed this to occur. I hope that the many victims of this outbreak aggressively pursue those responsible for this troubling pharmaceutical mistake.