Posted November 29, 2012 | Updated January 29, 2013

By Gary A. Puckrein

Published On The Huffington Post

The recent outbreak of fungal meningitis, which has resulted in a steadily increasing number of deaths (36 as of Nov. 26, 2012), crystalizes the importance of vigilant regulation of the pharmaceutical industry and affirms the need for swift correctional mechanisms in the case of tainted medicines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in collaboration with state health departments, have also identified more than 490 cases of fungal meningitis in 19 states that are directly attributable to a contaminated injection of an acute back pain steroid. They estimate that 14,000 patients have been treated with the faulty methylprednisolone acetate manufactured by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., and that 97 percent of them have been contacted for a follow up.

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