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The nationwide meningitis outbreak has reached Illinois. To date, the outbreak of fungal meningitis has claimed a total of 19 lives, and more than 247 people across 15 states have been sickened by the disease. The meningitis victims all received shots of a contaminated steroid medication that was manufactured by a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy.
According to this article, most of the meningitis victims had contracted the disease after getting the shots for back pain over the past few months, with two patients developing meningitis due to joint injections.
The death toll now stands at 19, with eight victims in Tennessee, three in Florida and Michigan, two in Indiana and Virginia, and one in Maryland.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the meningitis infections were caused by three kinds of fungus, most of them a form of black mold.
The suspected steroids were recalled last month by the steroid manufacturer, New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Massachusetts. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that they are investigating two additional drugs made by the company for safety – one is a solution used during heart surgery and the other is another steroid.
Product Liability for Unsafe Pharmaceuticals
The victims of the meningitis outbreak – like most patients – were all treated by prescription drugs that were intended to improve an underlying health condition. Unfortunately, the drugs were contaminated and, therefore, incredibly dangerous. Other times, an unsafe pharmaceutical drug may cause side effects to the patients taking the drug.
Drug manufacturers have an obligation to ensure that the drugs they are manufacturing and delivering to patients are safe. When a user of an unsafe pharmaceutical drug is injured as a result of taking the drug, he or she may be entitled to compensation for injuries suffered in a personal injury or product liability lawsuit.
The Chicago unsafe pharmaceutical attorneys at Ankin Law, LLC have considerable experience representing clients in a wide variety of personal injury and product liability lawsuits, including class actions and lawsuits based on unsafe pharmaceutical drugs.
Contact the skilled Chicago unsafe pharmaceutical drug law firm of Ankin Law, LLC at (312) 600-0000 to discuss a possible personal injury or product liability lawsuit.
