Fort Wayne link to meningitis outbreak

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE/AP)  A health care facility in Fort Wayne is among those that received a potentially contaminated medication used to treat chronic back pain.

The CDC and FDA are investigating a fungal meningitis outbreak among patients who received the epidural steroid injection. Health officials say the outbreak has sickened 26 people in five states and five people have died; three in Tennessee and one each in Virginia and Maryland. One case has been confirmed in Evansville, Indiana.

St. Mary's Health in Evansville said about 560 patients received injections of the recalled back pain medication, and roughly 250 have been contacted so far. A hospital spokeswoman said ten of the contacted patients are experiencing symptoms that could be consistent with fungal meningitis.

A specialty pharmacy in Massachusetts is the suspected source of the contaminated medication. The company said that immediately after it was notified about the infections, it initiated a voluntary recall September 26.

According to the State Health Department, six health care facilities in Indiana are known to have received the affected medication and have initiated recalling procedures of this product. The facilities are:

• Ambulatory Care Center, LLP; Evansville
• Fort Wayne Physical Medicine; 5750 Coventry Lane
• OSMC Outpatient Surgery Center; Elkhart
• South Bend Clinic; South Bend
• Union Hospital; Terre Haute
• Wellspring; Columbus