Another death by meningitis wave

Contaminated pain killers have already caused 170 cases of meningitis in the US

12/10/2012

It is the biggest pharmaceutical scandal in decades: a contaminated analgesic that was injected numerous patients in the US close to the spinal canal, pathogens were in the spinal fluid, where they caused life-threatening inflammation of the protective skins in the brain and spinal cord (meninges). So far, the contaminated painkiller with the active ingredient methylprednisolone is 14 human lives. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) health authorities, 170 people are currently ill. However, the authorities expect further cases. Some US physicians even expect more than 30,000 people affected.

East Coast of the USA remains the biggest source of illness of the meningitis wave
According to the current state of knowledge, the number of cases increased from 135 cases of meningitis to 170. 14 people did not survive the meningitis most likely caused by the anti-corrosive analgesic from the manufacturer NECC. While first of all the US East Coast was hit first, the wave of infection meanwhile also reached Idaho, which is far from the other diseases. The NECC head office is located in Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States, and has probably commercialized the drug in the vicinity.

Most heiferitis has occurred in the state of Tennessee so far. The authorities in the southern state recorded 44 ill and 6 deaths. In Virginia, 27 illnesses and one death have been registered so far. Michigan, with 28 patients and three deaths, is also one of the largest herds of disease. Pharmacists, physicians and authorities are not the only ones wondering how the pharmaceutical catastrophe could come about.

How could contaminated pain killers cause meningitis?
Suspected is the pharmaceutical company NECC, which is said to have produced the contaminated painkillers. The drug was attacked by a fungus that caused severe meningitis in many patients. If such an infection is not treated early, the patient dies.

In the US is now about so-called „Compounding Pharmacies“ which are able to produce and sell large volumes of medicines due to a slippage in the regulation of the industry and are hardly subject to supervision and control. Also NECC belongs to these pharmaceutical manufacturers. The system was originally created to accommodate specific patient needs for the drug. This may be necessary, for example, if a drug has to be adapted to the needs of children. Corresponding licenses are given to companies from the respective federal state, so that the National Food and Drug Administration of the USA has no control over the manufacture of the preparations.

NECC was able to offer its funds significantly cheaper than regular pharmaceutical companies that are not among the „Compounding Pharmacies“ belong. A „NECC dose“ The contaminated analgesic was launched for $ 25, while the same product from the Pfizer pharmaceutical group costs $ 46. (Ag)

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Picture credits: Andrea Damm / pixelio