Meningitis outbreak worsens, Responsible company's political ties surface - Polidicks

[quote][img]http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Meningitis-outbreak-screenshot-100612.jpg[/img] Victims of the meningitis outbreak blamed for 29 deaths across 19 states are now reporting spinal infections, The New York Times reported Thursday. Most of the reports of the infection, known as an epidural abscess, have originated in Michigan, site of 112 meningitis cases during the outbreak. “This is a significant shift in the presentation of this fungal infection, and quite concerning,” said Dr. Lakshmi K. Halasyamani, chief medical officer at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “An epidural abscess is very serious. It’s not something we expected.” Nationally, 404 people have been diagnosed with meningitis since late September, after using a contaminated steroid issued by the New England Compounding Center (NECC). The Food and Drug Administration confirmed the company’s link to the outbreak last month when it matched the contaminant involved in the outbreak, Exserohilum rostratum, to a steroid batch the company made in August. Salon reported on Tuesday that while NECC has been reprimanded several times over the past decade, the company was spared from more serious sanctions by entering into a consent agreement with a state agency, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy. The company’s president and co-owner, Greg Coniglario, was also revealed to have hosted a fundraiser for Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), one of 10 senators to sign a letter asking the FDA to loosen regulations on the drug compounding industry. Coniglario has allegedly contributed thousands of dollars to both Brown’s campaign and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. About 14,000 people were injected with the steroid, methylprednisolone acetate, after it was initially shipped to hospitals. The drug is mostly used to treat neck and back pain, but some patients reported infections after being injected for arthritic joint pain. Both NECC and a sister company, Ameridose — also owned by NECC’s owners, Coniglario and Barry Cadden — have been shuttered during the investigation, and their products have been recalled. Raw Story ([url]http://s.tt/1rS8s[/url]) [/quote] [url]http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/03/steroid-companys-political-ties-surface-as-meningitis-outbreak-worsens/[/url] [quote] Just when they might have thought they were in the clear, people recovering from meningitis in an outbreak caused by a contaminated steroid drug have been struck by a second illness. Related The new problem, called an epidural abscess, is an infection near the spine at the site where the drug — contaminated by a fungus — was injected to treat back or neck pain. The abscesses are a localized infection, different from meningitis, which affects the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. But in some cases, an untreated abscess can cause meningitis. The abscesses have formed even while patients were taking powerful antifungal medicines, putting them back in the hospital for more treatment, often with surgery. The problem has just begun to emerge, so far mostly in Michigan, which has had more people sickened by the drug — 112 out of 404 nationwide — than any other state. “We’re hearing about it in Michigan and other locations as well,” said Dr. Tom M. Chiller, the deputy chief of the mycotic diseases branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We don’t have a good handle on how many people are coming back.” He added, “We are just learning about this and trying to assess how best to manage these patients. They’re very complicated.” In the last few days, about a third of the 53 patients treated for meningitis at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., have returned with abscesses, said Dr. Lakshmi K. Halasyamani, the chief medical officer. “This is a significant shift in the presentation of this fungal infection, and quite concerning,” she said. “An epidural abscess is very serious. It’s not something we expected.” She and other experts said they were especially puzzled that the infections could occur even though patients were taking drugs that, at least in tests, appeared to work against the fungus causing the infection, a type of black mold called Exserohilum. The main symptom is severe pain near the injection site. But the abscesses are internal, with no visible signs on the skin, so it takes an M.R.I. scan to make the diagnosis. Some patients have more than one abscess. In some cases, the infection can be drained or cleaned out by a neurosurgeon. But sometimes fungal strands and abnormal tissue are wrapped around nerves and cannot be surgically removed, said Dr. Carol A. Kauffman, an expert on fungal diseases at the University of Michigan. In such cases, all doctors can do is give a combination of antifungal drugs and hope for the best. They have very little experience with this type of infection. Some patients have had epidural abscesses without meningitis; St. Joseph Mercy Hospital has had 34 such cases. A spokesman for the health department in Tennessee, which has had 78 meningitis cases, said that a few cases of epidural abscess had also occurred there, and that the state was trying to assess the extent of the problem. Dr. Chiller said doctors were also reporting that some patients exposed to the tainted drug had arachnoiditis, a nerve inflammation near the spine that can cause intense pain, bladder problems and numbness. “Unfortunately, we know from the rare cases of fungal meningitis that occur, that you can have complicated courses for this disease, and it requires prolonged therapy and can have some devastating consequences,” he said. The meningitis outbreak, first recognized in late September, is one of the worst public health disasters ever caused by a contaminated drug. So far, 29 people have died, often from strokes caused by the infection. The case count is continuing to rise. The drug was a steroid, methylprednisolone acetate, made by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. Three contaminated lots of the drug, more than 17,000 vials, were shipped around the country, and about 14,000 people were injected with the drug, mostly for neck and back pain. But some received injections for arthritic joints and have developed joint infections. Inspections of the compounding center have revealed extensive contamination. It has been shut down, as has another Massachusetts company, Ameridose, with some of the same owners. Both companies have had their products recalled. Compounding pharmacies, which mix their own drugs, have had little regulation from either states or the federal government, and several others have been shut down recently after inspections found sanitation problems.[/quote] [url]http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/health/second-illness-infects-meningitis-sufferers.html?_r=1&[/url] [quote] In the how-Washington-really-works department, we have the case of the compounding pharmacy industry, and specifically of New England Compounding Center, the Framingham company believed responsible for the deaths of at least 15 people due to fungal infections. There’s a lot we don’t know about how those steroid injections were contaminated, but the case has exposed what Rep. Ed Markey calls a “regulatory black hole” in which the compounding pharmacies operate. Where there’s a tug-of-war over regulation, you’ll find lobbyists and political fund-raising. In this case, WCVB has reported that NECC president Greg Conigliaro hosted a fundraiser for Sen. Scott Brown at his Southborough mansion, raking up $37,000 for the Brown campaign. Conigliaro and members of his family have given $10,000 of their own to Brown. And, the report continues, Brown was one of 10 senators who signed a letter in July urging the Drug Enforcement Administration to loosen regulations on the compounding pharmacy industry. This week Markey wrote the Justice Department, asking it to investigate whether NECC violated controlled substances laws and regulations by failing to register with the DEA. To be clear, we don’t know whether the patient deaths could have been prevented by different regulatory policies for the compounding pharmacy industry. Nor are we prescribing what the regulatory regime should be in this corner of a critical industry. We have no problem with a company lobbying Congress or federal agencies, a right that is included in the First Amendment And we have no problem with elected officials supporting a constituent or a company seeking favorable rulings from a federal agency. That’s part of their jobs. Our problem is with the $10,000 check – and the hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of checks going into this year’s campaigns. Both parties play this game. Businesses with an interest in governmental policies feel they must donate to Democrats as well as Republicans, and we wouldn’t be surprised to find money from the compounding pharmacy industry in the coffers of Brown’s opponent, Elizabeth Warren. The campaign financing system has been called a bipartisan shakedown. But regulatory decisions by federal agencies can be a matter of life and death, and they should be made on their own merits, by people who aren’t taking checks from those with a financial stake in the outcome. [/quote] [url]http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/editorspick_mobile/x1890061861/Editorial-Campaign-cash-taints-regulatory-decisions[/url]

Reminds me vaguely of V for Vendetta.

I had meningitis when I was 9, I wouldn't wish it on anyone

Nice title edit Jeep-Eep.

theyre testing out planting diseases in society, so they can better unleash zombies

[QUOTE=Saxon;38308329]I had meningitis when I was 9, I wouldn't wish it on anyone[/QUOTE] I had it when I was a kid too. Most painful head/neck pains I've ever had for about 3 days straight. Eating was hard, sleeping was hard, breathing was hard. Was the worst.

And this is one of the many reasons I made my donation to Scott Brown's opponent, Elizabeth Warren.

Why contain it? But damn, sounds horrible. Then again every outbreak does so...

I don't understand why companies wouldn't want regulation that helps prevent stuff like this. Surely it's in their best interest to make sure that they don't appear on the news because something like this happened? EDIT: reminds me of a company that released a drug knowing that there was a significant increase in the risk of heart attack if the drug was taken. Did no one think that someone might notice and that that would come back and bite them in the arse later?

Those people don't get payed to think.

If I remember correctly, my nephew had Meningitis when he was like, two or three, but they caught it quickly.

[QUOTE=Saxon;38308329]I had meningitis when I was 9, I wouldn't wish it on anyone[/QUOTE] You are lucky to be alive Congratulations

[QUOTE=McGii;38309721]You are lucky to be alive Congratulations[/QUOTE] To be honest, it's a major risk if you [I]aren't[/I] treated. They can do a lot about it if you actually get to hospital.

[QUOTE=Audio-Surfer;38309381]Those people don't get [B]payed [/B]to think.[/QUOTE] Lol

I had meningitis when I was just a baby :l

[QUOTE=McGii;38309721]You are lucky to be alive Congratulations[/QUOTE] Actually, that depends on which kind of meningitis he had. The meningitis caused by a virus is relatively safe and can be effectively treated even quite long after the symptoms have started, while the bacterial one is rarer and much more dangerous, possibly causing death only a few hours after the symptoms have started to show. Sometimes the patient dies even with treatment too.