Meningitis Outbreak Tied To Massachusetts Pharmacy

A sign on the door to the New England Compounding Center requests no soliciting at the Framingham, Mass. company. (AP)

Four people are dead, 26 are sick and more are expected to fall ill in a rare outbreak of fungal meningitis that may be linked to a specialty pharmacy in Framingham, Massachusetts.

The New England Compounding Center may have shipped out a steroid mixture, used for the treatment of back pain, infected with a fungus that causes the brain disease. Public health officials are trying to contact hundreds of individuals who have been treated with the steroid mixture. One Tennessee clinic had 2,000 vials of the medication, and has voluntarily closed during the investigation.

• Boston Globe: Framingham Pharmacy Possible Source Of Meningitis

Guest:

• Carolyn Y. Johnson, reporter for the Boston Globe