The original article can be found in: Virgin Islands Daily News By JOY BLACKBURN
The territory did not receive medications from the potentially contaminated lots linked with a fungal meningitis outbreak in the continental U.S. that has sickened 247 people and killed 19 so far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Curtis Allen, a CDC spokesman, said that the recalled medication in the lots associated with the outbreak went from a compounding pharmacy to 75 facilities in 23 states in the continental U.S. – but not to the Virgin Islands.
The multi-state outbreak is under investigation, but the CDC says that all infected patients identified so far received preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate injections from three lots voluntarily recalled by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. Most of the people affected received epidural injections, typically used to treat back pain.
Two local physicians who spoke to The Daily News said they do not get any medications from the New England Compounding Center – but have been contacted by patients who are concerned.
“Of course they are concerned. Even other doctors who are referring patients for pain are calling,” said Dr. Janice Victor, an interventional pain management physician on St. Thomas.Victor’s practice, V.I. Pain Management Associates, put out a statement saying that it had never purchased medicine from the New England Compounding Center or used any similar pharmacy for its medication supply.
“We adhere to strict guidelines in our use of medications and use the greatest care possible to ensure that our patients are treated with highest quality medical advances,” the statement said.
Dr. Deborah Appleyard, an orthopedic spine surgeon on St. Croix, said that the epidural injections are a non-surgical option for patients who have back pain – and that none of the medications she uses come from the New England Compounding Center.
She also typically uses a different steroid drug, betamethasone, than the one that is part of the recall, she said.
Appleyard said her patients, too, had been concerned about the outbreak.
“They want to know a little more about what their risks are specifically. I think when something like that happens, it makes it a little more real,” she said, adding that she always discusses risks, benefits and alternatives with patients.She tells them, she said, that they are “not at any particular risk from the recent outbreak, but all procedures carry a certain amount of risk.”
In a follow-up email, Appleyard described the stateside meningitis outbreak as “an extremely rare occurrence that is in this case linked to a single drug compounding company.”
“Millions of people are helped tremendously by these injections every year,” she wrote. Epidural steroid injections are “an important part of non-operative care for patients with severe pain,” Appleyard wrote.
“It would be unfortunate for people to suffer unnecessarily due to a very rare event that has gotten a lot of attention,” she wrote. “It would be akin to never flying because on rare occasions plane crashes have occurred. We take every precaution to prevent any adverse events including infections, but as I mentioned on the phone patients should always be informed of the risks, benefits, and alternatives of any procedure.”
The investigation of contamination at the New England Compounding Center involves multiple federal agencies and is ongoing.In a statement Monday, the federal Food and Drug Administration said that two illnesses that potentially could be associated with other medications from the New England Compounding Center are being investigated.
An update from the CDC Wednesday said that the agency “does not have firm evidence” that infections have been caused by exposure to any products from the New England Compounding Center beyond the three lots of methylprednisolone acetate that initially were recalled.
On Oct. 4, the FDA had advised providers not to use any New England Compounding Center products, and two days later, the New England Compounding Center announced a recall of all its products produced in its Framingham facility “out of an abundance of caution.” It was unclear whether any of the pharmacy’s other products had made their way to the territory.
