Fungal Contamination in Steroid Injections: First Lawsuit Filed

After receiving one of the steroid injections responsible for the deadly fungal meningitis outbreak, a Minnesota woman has sued the company that made the injection. She filed the lawsuit citing “bodily harm, emotional distress, and other personal injuries,” according to the Huffington Post.

Nearly 14,000 people have received this injection from the Framingham, Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center (NECC), which is at the center of this meningitis outbreak.

So far, 15 people have reportedly died as result of receiving the pharmaceutical.

The woman who filed the lawsuit received her injection on September 17--one day before the steroids were recalled--and has since experienced headaches and nausea for a week following her injection. She received her spinal injection at a medical clinic in Shakopee, Minnesota, southwest of Minneapolis.

Last week the Minnesota state health department informed the woman that her injection was from the suspect medication and advised her to get tested for fungal meningitis. Following this recommendation, the woman had a spinal tap and blood work done and is currently awaiting her results.

In Minnesota alone, 830 people have been injected with the implicated steroids and there have been three reported meningitis cases. However, the drug was distributed throughout the United States.

“Public health authorities have determined that the injections were contaminated with Aspergillus, which rarely causes fungal meningitis but did in this outbreak,” states Diane Miskowski, MPH, Business Development Manager. “EMSL Analytical provides sterility testing in pharmaceuticals and Aspergillus species identification using classical culture methods or PCR analysis in our cutting-edge, FDA-registered laboratory.”

For more information on EMSL’s pharmaceutical testing services, please contact EMSL at (800) 220-3675, visit www.EMSL.com, or email  info@EMSL.com .

About EMSL Analytical, Inc.
EMSL Analytical is a nationally recognized and locally focused provider of environmental and materials testing services and products to professionals and the general public. The company has an extensive list of accreditations from leading organizations as well as state and federal regulating bodies.

Contact Information

Joseph Frasca

Senior Vice President of Marketing

EMSL Analytical

(1) 1-800-220-3675

jfrasca@emsl.com