News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – A Senate committee hearing today on the fungal meningitis outbreak covered some of the same ground as yesterday's House hearing but aired the views of compounding pharmacy industry groups and provided a strong example for strengthening the nation's public health infrastructure.

(CIDRAP News) – The first congressional hearing today on the fungal meningitis outbreak linked to tainted steroids was marked by tough questions for regulators, political wrangling, and an appearance by the owner of the compounding pharmacy that produced the drugs, but he declined to testify.

(CIDRAP News) – Clinicians at a Virginia hospital that screened 172 patients who were exposed to contaminated injectable steroids provided an early snapshot yesterday of patients' clinical courses and more evidence that the organism is invasive, putting patients at risk for strokes.

(CIDRAP News) – Tests by federal health officials have detected bacterial contamination in two products from the Massachusetts compounding pharmacy linked to a multistate fungal meningitis outbreak caused by tainted steroid drugs, a finding that amplifies worries about the sterility of the company's products.

(CIDRAP News) – Nine more patients have been sickened in a multistate fungal meningitis outbreak linked to a Massachusetts company's tainted steroid injections, boosting the total so far to 386, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.