OMC patients not at risk from recalled steroid

The Oconee Medical Center director of pharmacy, Bill Stevenson, is confirming that the hospital did not receive any of the injectable steroid medication that is suspected to have caused multi-state outbreak of fungi meningitis. The medication in question is preservative-free methyl-prednisolone acetate prepared by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. The company has recalled three lots of the medication associated with infected patients. “Oconee Medical Center has no inventory of medication from New England Compounding Center,” said Stevenson. “We receive these medications directly from the manufacturer.” According to the Centers for Disease Control, all known cases of the fungal meningitis related to the outbreak are linked epidural injections of the steroid medication. It is unknown if patients receiving the medication through other types of injections have been affected. Patients of OMC and its affiliated services including Oconee Center for Comprehensive Pain Management and Oconee Physician Practices are not at risk for fungal meningitis related to those epidural steroid injections.