OSE_1211_part1_Layout 1 11/1/12 8:57 AM Page 18
S P E C I A L
R E P O R T :
T A I N T E D
S T E R O I D S
WHAT'S IN THE SYRINGE?
Compounding pharmacy rules
vary by state, as do resources that
allow for oversight and inspections.
The Latest on the
Deadly Meningitis Outbreak
A huge batch of contaminated steroids from a
now-shuttered compounding pharmacy is blamed for
the deaths of 24 people and sickening more than 300.
E
very day, 25,000 patients walk into sur-
Stephanie Wasek
gery centers and pain clinics across the
Features Editor
country to get shots for back pain. A
spinal epidural of steroids, and they're on their way back home in less
than 30 minutes. It's quick and it's clean.
Except we all know now that things are no longer so simple for
more than 325 pain patients in 18 states who contracted a rare form
of fungal meningitis from a black mold called Exserohilum rostra1 8
O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | N O V E M B E R 2012
