UCSF Patients Safe from Meningitis Outbreak Related to Spine Injections

The following article was written by William P. Dillon, M.D., Elizabeth A. Guillaumin Professor of Radiology, Executive Vice Chair of Radiology, and Chief of the Neuroradiology Section at UCSF.

A medical recall of steroid compound used as an injection of spine pain from the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts may have recently caught your attention. The Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are advising medical professionals to cease use of all products from the manufacturer.

Three lots of the NECC’s preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate dated back to July 2012 have been recalled and are believed to be the cause of reported fungal meningitis. The UCSF Department of Pharmaceutical Services has never purchased this recalled drug and as of 10/4/12, the first notice of the event, have suspended all purchases from the NECC.

It’s important to note that while 119 meningitis cases have been identified and 11 deaths have been reported in 10 states, none of these have occurred in California.  Furthermore, the implicated pharmaceuticals have not been shipped to San Francisco.

In the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, our patients’ health and safety is our utmost priority. Please be aware that we will continue to keep you informed, but rest assured that there is no elevated risk for procedures from this recall.

To contact the UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, please click here.

                                                     For more information on the NECC recall, please see here.