CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- While the death toll from meningitis cases rise, the FDA has recalled all medicines produced by the New England Compounding Center and one of those drugs were sent to a hospital here in the Lowcountry.
The recall includes over 300 drugs from the NECC. One of them is Nalpuphine (Nubain), which is a pain medication, and it has been pulled by Roper Saint Francis hospitals.
The latest
statement from Roper St. Francis:
Roper St. Francis Healthcare is
examining the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) expanded list of
precautionary medicines coming from the New England Compounding Center (NECC) in
Massachusetts, and following guidelines to ensure patient safety. All of the
pharmaceutical products that have been sold by NECC are being recalled,
including one that RSFH did purchase called Nalbuphine, (product name Nubain).
The latest FDA recommendation
regarding numerous medications from the NECC stems from an "abundance of
caution." RSFH had previously pulled Nalbuphine, a pain medication injected
directly into a patient's vein or muscle, from its pharmacies. No cases of
fungal disease have been associated with Nalbuphine. RSFH clinicians will be
following up with patients who received Nalbuphine.
The NECC has been linked to cases
of fungal meningitis from the use of contaminated steroids administered via
epidural injection for management of pain. RSFH did not purchase the steroid
utilized in these injections.
The healthcare system takes
quality measures and patient safety very seriously and will continue monitoring
this unfolding situation and do everything it can to protect its patient
population.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the death count to 19 on
Wednesday. There were two more deaths reported in Tennessee and one
each in Florida and Virginia. There have been no cases of illness in the Palmetto State.
