The death toll from a meningitis outbreak linked to contaminated steroids jumped to 19 on Wednesday, while U.S. lawmakers pressed federal health regulators to explain what they knew about the pharmacy that produced the drugs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said four more deaths had been confirmed in the last 24 hours, including two in Tennessee, the state hardest hit with eight deaths since the infections were discovered in late September.
Virginia and Florida each reported one new death.
The number of new cases of fungal meningitis linked to steroid injections from the New England Compounding Center rose by 14 to 245, the CDC said in its latest daily update. Two additional infections have not been confirmed as meningitis.
The daily tally was a reminder that one of the worst U.S. health scares in recent years has not been contained, despite emergency steps to recall the medications and stop the use of products from New England Compounding Center of Massachusetts.
NECC has recalled all of its medications and health authorities are warning patients who may have been treated with the drugs to watch for symptoms. Special agents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration raided NECC’s Framingham facility near Boston late on Tuesday as calls in Congress grew for a criminal investigation.
The FDA is also under scrutiny. While it has limited authority to regulate pharmacies like NECC, it had flagged violations at the company as recently as 2006.
On Wednesday a U.S. House of Representatives panel investigating the outbreak gave the FDA until October 31 to turn over its documents related to NECC, including communications with state regulators and the agency’s commissioner, dating back to 2004.
The panel said it heard from FDA staff last week that the agency had been assured by NECC of the pharmacy’s compliance in early 2007. But the FDA representatives could not confirm whether the agency then took any steps to ensure corrective measures had been taken.
An FDA spokesman said the agency had received the letter and would respond directly to the panel.
Read more at REUTERS
{Matzav.com Newscenter}
