The company that produced contaminated medications linked to an unprecedented fungal meningitis outbreak in the US faced mounting scrutiny on Saturday over whether it illegally sold drugs to medical facilities, as the death toll from the disease grew to 15.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said another person died from meningitis, the second death in Indiana.
The number of cases of the disease reported reached 201 in 14 states, according to the CDC and state officials.
Illinois reported its first case of meningitis from a steroid injection and New Hampshire officials reported that state’s first four confirmed cases from the outbreak, which showed no signs of abating.
Tennessee is the worst affected state with six deaths and 52 cases, followed by Michigan with three deaths and 41 cases, including one case of an infection that has not been confirmed as meningitis.
As federal and state authorities scrambled to contain the outbreak, investigators were trying to determine how the medication produced by New England Compounding Center (NECC) was contaminated and whether its sprawling drug supply business complied with licensing laws.
A series of e-mails between the company and a clinic in Mississippi reviewed by reporters show that NECC sold drugs without requiring physicians to supply individual patient prescriptions. The customer confirmed that NECC supplied the clinic with drugs without patient names or prescriptions, which are required by a number of states including Massachusetts, where the company is based.
The e-mails also indicate that NECC referred business to a sister company, Ameridose LLC, despite a statement by Ameridose last week that the two operated separately. NECC has recalled the suspect product, surrendered its license to operate in Massachusetts and suspended operations. Ameridose also has temporarily suspended operations.
“NECC’s intent has always been to operate in compliance with our licenses in the states where we do business,” the company said in a statement.
The US Food and Drug Administration is investigating NECC and there have been calls from some in Congress for a criminal investigation of the company.
“FDA considers this to be one of our top priorities and we are dedicating many resources to this investigation,” the agency said in a statement late on Friday.
Federal regulators have come under criticism for failing to prevent the outbreak by closely regulating drug compounding companies such as NECC, which prepare medications for clinics and doctors largely outside federal oversight. The FDA has said the law does not give it adequate authority to do so, leaving regulation largely to the states.
NECC faces mounting threats from states as well. Several states are investigating the company and at least two — Michigan and Massachusetts — have said the company violated their regulations, according to a survey.
About 14,000 patients received the suspect steroid medications, which were shipped to 76 facilities in 23 states as long ago as May.
Meningitis is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include headache, fever and nausea. Fungal meningitis is a rare form and is not contagious.
Far from the violence ravaging Haiti, a market on the border with the Dominican Republic has maintained a welcome degree of normal everyday life. At the Dajabon border gate, a wave of Haitians press forward, eager to shop at the twice-weekly market about 200km from Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. They are drawn by the market’s offerings — food, clothing, toys and even used appliances — items not always readily available in Haiti. However, with gang violence bad and growing ever worse in Haiti, the Dominican government has reinforced the usual military presence at the border and placed soldiers on alert. While the market continues to
An image of a dancer balancing on the words “China Before Communism” looms over Parisian commuters catching the morning metro, signaling the annual return of Shen Yun, a controversial spectacle of traditional Chinese dance mixed with vehement criticism of Beijing and conservative rhetoric. The Shen Yun Performing Arts company has slipped the beliefs of a spiritual movement called Falun Gong in between its technicolored visuals and leaping dancers since 2006, with advertising for the show so ubiquitous that it has become an Internet meme. Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in
ONLINE VITRIOL: While Mo Yan faces a lawsuit, bottled water company Nongfu Spring and Tsinghua University are being attacked amid a rise in nationalist fervor At first glance, a Nobel prize winning author, a bottle of green tea and Beijing’s Tsinghua University have little in common, but in recent weeks they have been dubbed by China’s nationalist netizens as the “three new evils” in the fight to defend the country’s valor in cyberspace. Last month, a patriotic blogger called Wu Wanzheng filed a lawsuit against China’s only Nobel prize-winning author, Mo Yan (莫言), accusing him of discrediting the Communist army and glorifying Japanese soldiers in his fictional works set during the Japanese invasion of China. Wu, who posts online under the pseudonym “Truth-Telling Mao Xinghuo,” is seeking
‘SURPRISES’: The militants claim to have successfully tested a missile capable of reaching Mach 8 and vowed to strike ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported on Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unidentified official, but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine. However, the Houthis have for weeks hinted about “surprises” they plan for the battles at sea to counter the