on January 20, 2013 at 3:00 AM, updated January 20, 2013 at 3:04 AM
By Nina Radcliff
Special to the Times
As a physician, I assume the medications I prescribe and administer are safe. However, the recent fungal meningitis outbreak has made me, my fellow physicians, hospitals, legislatures and the public concerned.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now report a total of 39 deaths and 656 cases due to contaminated vials of steroids that were manufactured by the New England Compounding Center (NECC). There have been 46 cases of fungal meningitis reported in New Jersey, many of them in South Jersey.
Approximately 17,500 vials that potentially harbored Exserohilum rostratum, the fungus linked to the meningitis cases, were shipped by NECC to 76 health care facilities in 24 states. Although extremely tragic — and unnecessary — we are fortunate that these numbers were not significantly higher.
Compounding pharmacies have served a special and important patient service during drug shortages and for patient-specific needs. “Traditional” compounding pharmacies provide medications for an individual patient in response to a practitioner’s prescription. A pharmacist combines, mixes or alters various drug ingredients for a specific patient allergy, or the need for a liquid form.
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