Meningitis Symptoms: Steroid Responsible for Outbreak was Under Investigation in 2004

In 2004, health officials considered imposing sanctions and three years of probation on the New England Compounding Center (NECC) for unacceptable standards in the production of methylprednisolone acetate, the steroid that sparked a nationwide meningitis epidemic.

"Although your facility has seen significant upgrades in facility design for the sterile compounding operation, there were numerous significant gaps identified during the assessment," reads a letter from an outside evaluation firm known as Pharmacy Support Inc.

Reuters reports that the firm decided against punishing NECC for their lapse in standards, which also included distributing blank prescriptions and for "soliciting out-of-state prescriptions for office use and using a form unapproved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health." The publication obtained its information through a Freedom of Information Act request.

At the time of the allegations, NECC defense attorney Paul Cirel stated that "the collateral consequences to many, if not all of NECC's 42 other licenses, would be potentially to business," according to the Washington Dispatch.

CIrel added, "Such a catastrophe is clearly not the intended result of the proposed reprimand, nor is it warranted in this case."

NECC was let off the hook in 2006, free of sanctions or probation.

The fungal meningitis outbreak has afflicted 297 people, 16 states, and has killed 23, says the Center for Disease Control (CDC). 

Tennessee reports 69 cases and 9 deaths, Virginia reports 41 cases and 2 deaths, Florida reports 17 cases and 3 deaths, Indiana reports 40 cases and 2 deaths, Maryland reports 17 cases and 1 death, Michigan reports 62 cases and 5 deaths, Idaho reports 1 case, Minnesota reports 7 cases, New Jersey reports 16 cases, New Hampshire reports 10 cases, North Carolina reports 2 cases and 1death, and Ohio reports 11 cases.

Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, altered mental states, fever, headache, stiff neck, hallucinations, and personality changes. Treatment usually involves prolonged courses of high dose antifungal medications through an IV line, according to the CDC. Treatment length may vary depending on the patient's immune system, lasting months in some cases.