INDIANAPOLIS
(AP) — A state health official says Indiana now has 11 cases of fungal
meningitis linked to a tainted back pain medication.
State
Department of Health spokesman Ken Severson said Monday the latest total
is up from eight known cases previously. There have been no Indiana
deaths.
Indiana's
cases involve patients at six Indiana health facilities that received a
recalled steroid produced by a specialty pharmacy in Massachusetts.
Elkhart's OSMC
Surgery Center is one of the six clinics. CEO Don Hammond says the
"anxiety of our patients is pretty high" as they wait to learn whether
they have meningitis. He said previously two of its patients have been
hospitalized with it.
The outbreak
has spread to at least 105 people in nine states. At least eight have
died. The disease isn't contagious.
Posted
10/8/2012