Florida has registered its first fatality from the fungal meningitis outbreak linked to contaminated back-pain injections, the Department of Health announced Tuesday night. DOH also raised the case count in the state to six, all in Marion County.
The fatality actually occurred in July, DOH said, before the discovery that certain lots of steroids from New England Compounding Center (NECC) were contaminated.
The unidentified 70-year-old man who died had been treated at the Florida Pain Clinic in Ocala, said DOH spokeswoman Ashley Carr. The other cases that have been identified so far were patients at Marion Pain Management Center, also in Ocala.
Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday morning that DOH had contacted more than half of the 1,185 patients who were exposed to the tainted steroids at one of six clinics in the state where the drugs were used.
In addition to Marion Pain Management Center and Florida Pain Clinic, the drugs were given at:
--Orlando Center for Outpatient Surgery.
--Pain Center of West Florida, in Pensacola.
--Surgery Center of Ocala.
--Surgical Park Center in Miami.
DOH says five patients who contracted the rare meningitis from Marion Pain Management Center have survived: three men in their 80s, a 78-year-old man, and a 65-year-old woman. Their names were not released.
The agency has set up a toll-free line to answer questions about the outbreak: 866-523-7339. Gov. Scott mistakenly gave out the wrong number on Tuesday morning, off by one digit, and it connected to an adult-entertainment line.
The NECC drugs suspected of causing the outbreak were in three lots: 05212012@68, 06292012@26 and 08102012@51. The company has recalled all its products, however, at the suggestion of the Food and Drug Administration.
Health officials stressed that the type of meningitis occurring in the outbreak is not contagious. It appears to be causing illness in only a small fraction of those exposed.
Tuesday night, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web page for the outbreak listed 119 cases in 10 states, with 11 deaths.
--Health News Florida, journalism for a healthy state, is a service of WUSF Public Media. Question? Comment? Contact Editor Carol Gentry at 813-974-8629 or 727-410-3266, or by e-mail at cgentry@wusf.org.
