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(AP)—A pharmacy that makes specialty medications is recalling nearly 100 compounded drugs after federal regulators found potential safety problems during an inspection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-indianapolis-pharmacy-recalls-compounded-drugs.html Medications Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:10:02 EST news285940273 (AP)—The Food and Drug Administration says it has uncovered troubling sterility problems at 30 specialty pharmacies that were inspected following a recent outbreak of meningitis caused by contaminated drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-fda-cites-sanitary-issues-specialty.html Health Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:04:55 EST news284987082 (AP)—A Massachusetts pharmacy has issued a voluntary recall of some sterile compounding products. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-mass-pharmacy-recalling-compounded-products.html Medications Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:19:25 EST news283429158 A pair of commentaries to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy highlight a debate within the public health community surrounding Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for treatment of exposed individuals during last year's fungal meningitis outbreak. Manuscripts of the commentaries were published ahead of print today on the journal's webpage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-debate-cdc-meningitis-outbreak.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:10:01 EST news279298626 (AP)—Massachusetts officials have ordered 11 pharmacies to completely or partially shut down after a series of inspections prompted by a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-mass-pharmacies.html Other Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:01:47 EST news279298903 (AP)—Gov. Deval Patrick is proposing tighter regulations on compounding pharmacies following last year's deadly meningitis outbreak linked to a Massachusetts company. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-mass-gov-compounding-pharmacy.html Health Fri, 04 Jan 2013 14:49:30 EST news276533356 (AP)—The head of the Food and Drug Administration renewed her push for new rules to help police pharmacies like the one that triggered a deadly meningitis outbreak, even as members of Congress expressed little interest in cooperating with the agency. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-fda-chief-renews-specialty-pharmacy.html Health Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:14:29 EST news275159663 (AP)—House lawmakers are investigating whether the industry group for compounding pharmacies coached the company responsible for a deadly outbreak of meningitis in dealing with regulators. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-congress-compounding-group.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:50:03 EST news274109640 US lawmakers slammed federal and state health officials Wednesday for failing to properly police a pharmacy whose tainted drugs caused a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-congress-slams-health-tainted-drugs.html Medications Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:09:25 EST news272171359 (AP)—The country's top medical regulator is preparing to tell Congress that new laws are needed to police large specialty pharmacies like the one at the center of a deadly meningitis outbreak. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-fda-chief-powers-police-pharmacies.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:28:07 EST news272111267 Their call comes just days before 100 World Health Organisation member states hold their first meeting to discuss the problem, and the authors hope it will help to influence the debate and lead to some concrete actions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-international-action-quality-medicines-tackle.html Medications Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:30:08 EST news272046750 (HealthDay)—Spinal steroid injections—the type involved in the current fungal meningitis outbreak in the United States—provide only short-term relief for sciatica-related leg and back pain, according to a new analysis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-steroid-shots-sciatica-benefits-analysis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 13 Nov 2012 05:50:01 EST news272004526 US federal health inspectors said Monday they have uncovered serious problems at a second Massachusetts pharmacy run by some of the same people whose tainted drugs caused a deadly meningitis outbreak. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-problems-firm-tied-meningitis-outbreak.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:10:01 EST news271965626 (AP)—Federal health inspectors have found more than a dozen sterility problems, including insects, at a drugmaking facility with the same founders as the specialty pharmacy linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-fda-contamination-ameridose.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:44:39 EST news271961072 (HealthDay)—Thirty-two people have now died and 438 have been sickened in the fungal meningitis outbreak linked to tainted steroid injections, U.S. health officials reported Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-steroid-meningitis-toll-dead-sickened-cdc.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 10 Nov 2012 06:30:01 EST news271749368 The death toll from a meningitis outbreak linked to tainted drugs rose to 30 as the number of cases climbed to a whopping 419, US health officials said Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-meningitis-death-toll.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:20:40 EST news271362028 (AP)—House lawmakers investigating a nationwide outbreak of deadly meningitis are asking the head of the Food and Drug Administration to testify at the first congressional hearing on the issue next week. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-fda-chief-testify-meningitis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:54:12 EST news271356844 (HealthDay)—Lab tests have found bacteria in two other medical products made by the Massachusetts-based specialty pharmacy at the center of an ongoing fungal meningitis outbreak, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-fda-bacteria-products-firm-tied.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:29:17 EST news271078145 (HealthDay)—Ameridose, a Massachusetts-based manufacturer of sterile injectable products and oral syringes, is undergoing a voluntary recall of all unexpired products in circulation, according to an Oct. 31 news release issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-fda-ameridose-issues-voluntary-recall.html Medications Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:23:58 EST news271077831 Federal regulators said Thursday that they've found contamination in more drugs made by a pharmacy tied to a deadly meningitis outbreak. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-bacteria-products-pharmacy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:25:58 EST news271049084 (AP)—Massachusetts officials say they have shut down a compounding pharmacy after a surprise inspection prompted by the nationwide meningitis outbreak linked to a different state company. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-mass-compounding-pharmacy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:40:03 EST news270728748 A pharmacy tied to a meningitis outbreak repeatedly found bacteria and mold in its facility long before shipping tainted drugs to patients, US officials said Friday as the death toll rose to 25. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-firm-mold-shipping-tainted-drugs.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 27 Oct 2012 14:00:33 EST news270565210 US officials revoked the license Wednesday of a Massachusetts pharmacy cited for significant sanitary violations as the toll from a meningitis outbreak tied to its tainted drugs rose to 24. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-firm-tainted-drug-toll.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 25 Oct 2012 04:07:27 EST news270356840 You get what you pay for. This maxim is proving true all over again when it comes to steroid injections used to alleviate back pain. Making safe and effective versions of such drugs involves manufacturing steps that aren't trivial. The cost of the medicine has to match the care that goes into creating it and the oversight required to ensure that the standards are maintained. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-heavy-price-cheaper-drugs.html Medications Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:30:07 EST news270216953 (AP)—The Massachusetts pharmacy linked to a meningitis outbreak that has claimed 23 lives around the country was cleared by state regulators following an inspection last year. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-steroid-pharmacy-mass.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 23 Oct 2012 02:30:02 EST news270178071 (HealthDay)—Twenty-three people have now died and 297 have been sickened in the nationwide meningitis outbreak apparently tied to contaminated steroid injections, U.S. health officials reported Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-meningitis-outbreak-toll-dead-sickened.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 22 Oct 2012 17:10:53 EST news270144646 (AP)—Questions are being raised about Medicare in the meningitis outbreak that has rekindled doubts about the safety of the nation's drug supply. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-medicare-outbreak.html Health Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:00:59 EST news269874053 In a new perspective piece being published Online First tonight in Annals of Internal Medicine, a physician recalls lessons learned from treating patients affected by the 2002 outbreak of Exophiala (Wangiella) dermatitidis meningitis or arthritis related to contaminated, injectable coticosteroids prepared from a compounding pharmacy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-dont-fungal-meningitis-outbreak.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:24:21 EST news269799853 (AP)—The fungus found in tainted steroid shots matches the one blamed in the national meningitis outbreak that has killed 20 people, federal health officials said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-fda-fungus-tainted-steroids-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:51:08 EST news269790638 In recent weeks, an out­break of fungal menin­gitis has infected more than 200 people and killed 15. The infec­tion was traced back to a steroidal injec­tion pre­pared at a com­pounding phar­macy based in Fram­ingham, Mass., and on Tuesday crim­inal inves­ti­ga­tors from the Food and Drug Admin­is­tra­tion were report­edly at the facility as part of the ongoing inves­ti­ga­tion. Northeastern University news office asked Jack Reynolds, dean of the School of Phar­macy, to explain the symp­toms of the rare dis­ease and to address the future reg­u­la­tion of com­pounding pharmacies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-3qs-meningitis-outbreak.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:00:01 EST news269761792