Government health officials are responding to reported complications lined with potentially contaminated medications made by a Tennessee specialty pharmacy, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
The agency said it is working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy to investigate reports of seven unfavorable events associated with steroid injections compounded by the company.
The patients received steroid injections from Main Street Family Pharmacy, a compounding pharmacy in Newbern, Tenn. The FDA said in a statement at least one of the seven cases appears to be a fungal infection. The government recommends doctors stop using any sterile drugs distributed by the pharmacy and quarantine them until further notice.
According to the statement, the injections contain methylprednisolone acetate, the same drug at the center of last year's deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis. The steroids are usually used to treat pain and reduce inflammation.
"The first priority is to ensure all products from this pharmacy are no longer in use. In addition, patients who potentially received an injection of MPA compounded by the pharmacy, into a sterile space (e.g., spine, joint, eye), should be contacted. These patients and others who may have had other types of injections should be informed the MPA medication they received might have been contaminated and asked whether they are experiencing any symptoms that could indicate infection," said the Tennessee Department of Health in a statement.
"Health officials believe, in reviewing preliminary information about when the material could have been appropriately used, there is not an ongoing risk to those now needing treatments. Out of an abundance of caution, the organizations have implemented or are implementing actions to protect the general public."
