Tainted Drug Kills 1, Sickens 2

October 1, 2002

Tue Oct 1, 9:46 AM ET

By DOUG JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - An elderly woman died and two others were sickened with

meningitis after being injected with a contaminated painkiller at separate

health clinics, state health officials said.

Up to 1,000 patients at the three eastern North Carolina pain clinics may

have been injected with the drug, the officials said.

" We are not sure, but new cases could continue to develop, " state

epidemiologist Dr. Engel said Monday.

The three patients received spinal injections of the drug methylprednisolone

‹ a steroid used to treat joint pain ‹ between April and July, and later

contracted meningitis, the state Department of Health and Human Services (

news - web sites) said.

A 77-year-old woman died in August after being transferred to a hospital

when she became ill. Her name was not released.

Two others were treated for fungal meningitis, Engel said. A fourth case is

suspected.

The drug was contaminated with Wangiella dermatitidis, a type of mold, Engel

said. State health officials and investigators from the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention ( news - web sites) are trying to determine how it

became contaminated.

" As it is now, we just don't know how this happened, " Engel said.

The clinics are FirstHealth Regional Hospital Pain Clinic in

Pinehurst, Wayne Memorial Hospital in Goldsboro and ston Pain Management

in ville, officials said.

Physicians investigating the case said the drug was distributed by a small

pharmaceutical supplier in South Carolina. Engel declined to identify the

company.

The drug was shipped to clinics in four other states: Virginia, Connecticut,

South Carolina and Massachusetts. North Carolina received 90 percent ‹ or

about 800 vials ‹ of the contaminated batch, Engel said.

As of Monday, no other states had reported problems with the drug, which was

recalled by the supplier Sept. 17 and is no longer being distributed. Health

officials in Massachusetts said the entire supply was sent back before it

was used, Engel said.

Meningitis is an infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord.

Symptoms include severe headache, fever, stiff neck, vomiting and worsening

back pain.

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