FDA Encourages Healthcare Providers to Contact Patients Who Received Injectables from NECC in Wake of Fungal Meningitis Outbreak

The FDA is recommending that medical professionals reach out to any patient who was administered an injectable product distributed by the New England Compound Center (NECC). This comes on the heels of a fungal meningitis outbreak being tied to steroids distributed by the NECC.

At this point, the fungal meningitis has been traced to injections of  methylprednisolone acetate as well as triamcinolone acetonide. NECC has issued a recall of all of its products (to view the list of affected products, click here).

Since the outbreak began, the FDA has has been conducting an ongoing investigation into contamination at  NECC, which is located in Framingham, Massachusetts. As a result of this investigation, they have recommended that healthcare professionals retain NECC products, secure them and withhold them from use. They are also advising them to follow up with any patient who received an injectable drug from NECC and asking them to be on the lookout for symptoms of possible infection, including fever, swelling, increasing pain, redness, warmth at the injection site, chest pain, drainage from the surgical site, visual changes and redness or discharge from the eyes. If patients notice any of these symptoms, they should contact a healthcare provider immediately.

At this time, the FDA is not urging patient follow-up for those who received non-injected NECC drugs, such as lotions, creams, suppositories and eye drops not used in conjunction with surgery.

To learn more and stay up to date on any new developments, click here.