New warnings issued over meningitis outbreak

There is a new warning from the federal government involving that meningitis outbreak. It has Alabama health centers taking new steps this morning.

The FDA now says other medicines from the same pharmacy in New England could be making people sick. That could include some medicine delivered to Brookwood Medical Center and nine other places across the state. Health officials want doctors at Brookwood and the other facilities to contact patients who got any injection made by the New England Compounding Center and warn them of the risk of infection.

Several local medical centers have issued statements regarding these events.

Brookwood Medical Center sent this statement, saying in part..."As a precaution, we pulled all N.E.C.C. products from our pharmacy inventory earlier this month. We're working quickly to assess this new information and if necessary, we will notify patients immediately."

The Birmingham Surgery Center said in an emailed statement that they are compiling a list of patients who received medicine from NECC and advising them to be aware of any unusual symptoms and what they should do if they become sick. They say they have never used the methylprednisolone acetate associated with the meningitis outbreak, but have used other compounds from NECC.

Alabama Pain Physicians said in a statement that they "have not received the product confirmed to be linked to the meningitis outbreak." However, they say they have pulled all NECC products from their stores and are following up with any patient who has received any product from NECC.

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