Ohio patients of 4 pains clinics might be impacted by meningitis recall

Ohio health officials are working to track down patients from four private pain clinics who might received a recalled injectable steroid that has been linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak.

The outbreak has sickened 47 and killed five in seven states. Though four pain clinics in Ohio received the medication, no illnesses have been reported in the state so far, officials said.

Investigators from the Food and Drug Administration notified the Ohio Department of Health that four Ohio pain management clinics received the medication, methylprednisolone acetate, which is most frequently used to treat back pain. The clinics are:

• BKC Pain Specialists, 1065 Delaware Ave., Marion

• Cincinnati Pain Management, 8261 Cornell Road, Cincinnati

• Marion Pain Clinic, 1199 Delaware Ave., Marion

• Ortho-Spine Rehab Center, 7211 Sawmill Road, Dublin

“It’s very important that we reach out to those who had the treatment because symptoms are subtle and can be overlooked,” said Dr. Ted Wymyslo, director of the state health department. “As we look harder, it is possible that we will uncover cases. We want to get these patients connected with treatment to prevent more serious consequences.”

Patients who received a steroid injection and who are experiencing symptoms including new or worsening headache, fever, neck stiffness or pain at the injection site, should contact their health care provider to determine if they received one of the recalled products and to be checked for possible infection, state health officials advised.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA are working jointly to investigate the outbreak of meningitis among patients who received epidural steroid injections of the drug, prepared by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass.

Fungal meningitis is suspected to the cause of the outbreak, and a potentially contaminated product might be the source of the outbreak, though the investigation is still ongoing.

Fungal meningitis is not spread person-to-person. All of the patients infected had received injections of the medication. The lots used have been recalled.

So far, the Dayton region has not been impacted by the recall. A spokeswoman for Miami Valley Hospital said the Dayton facility does not receive any medications from the New England Compounding Center. A spokeswoman for Kettering Health Network said she was not aware of any of the networks facilities being contacted about receiving the drug.

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