Newly Discovered Evidence Indicates Parties Other Than NECC May Share Responsibility for Deadly Meningitis Outbreak

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Injectable steroids prepared by The New England Compounding Center (NECC) have been associated with a national meningitis outbreak by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Samples from final product batch lots [were] sent to an independent lab…for sterility, endotoxin (pyrogenicity), and potency testing.”

PritzkerOlsen, P.A., the national product safety law firm representing a number of fungal meningitis outbreak patients, has discovered a key document that shows companies other than NECC may share some of the responsibility for this outbreak, which is growing daily.

According to PritzkerOlsen, in 2005, NECC’s National Director issued a document that spells out the reasons for NECC’s claim that it “earned a national reputation as a provider of high quality compounded medications and excellent services to patients and prescribers.” Among other things, NECC claimed that:

1.	“Samples from final product batch lots [were] sent to an independent lab…for sterility, endotoxin (pyrogenicity), and potency testing.”
2.	“Tested medication is quarantined and dispensed only after sample has tested negative for endotoxin and microbial contamination. Test results are provided with each order if requested.”
3.	“An independent 3^rd party pharmacy consultant inspects our facility periodically to ensure we are observing all USP 797 requirements.”
4.	“All personnel are trained/validated by an outside agency…”
5.	“Class 10 microenvironments are validated every 6 months by [an outside agency].”

According to Attorney Fred Pritzker, president of PritzkerOlsen law firm, “This newly discovered evidence is significant. If companies other than NECC evaluated and tested its products, trained NECC staff and inspected its premises, NECC should immediately identify those companies and share the results of their work on its behalf.” He noted, “It’s vitally important to know whether the allegedly adulterated drugs linked to this outbreak were tested and cleared before they were injected into the spines of unsuspecting patients. Everyone in the chain of distribution who caused or failed to detect this outbreak should be held accountable.”

Fred Pritzker has a national practice representing victims of pathogenic adulteration of both food and drug products. He has obtained some of the largest verdicts and settlements in product liability cases, including a recent $40,000,000 recovery for clients injured by another medical product. Pritzker also represented the family of a woman who died from a medication made by another compounding pharmacy. Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free). More information can be found on the PritzkerOlsen personal injury blog. The firm has offices in Minneapolis, MN.