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We are all relieved that the light at the end of the tunnel is visible for patients in Tennessee who received potentially contaminated injections of steroids.
Tennessee Health Commissioner Dr. John Dreyzehner said this week that 250 patients still need intensive monitoring, but Nov. 8 is the end of the highest risk period for people who received injections of methylprednisolone acetate made by New England Compounding Center.
Though the number of cases did not increase in Tennessee Thursday, the number continues to rise nationally, to 328 cases and 24 deaths (70 cases and nine deaths in our state). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added South Carolina to the list of states reporting cases of fungal meningitis, with one case reported on Thursday.
The CDC also announced late Wednesday that it was expanding its investigation to include patients contracting fungal infections from any NECC product.
Though it means some families must remain on alert, the announcement is a welcome sign that investigators are pursuing all lines of inquiry in the quest to understand the breadth of the problems caused by NECC.
As this life-threatening crisis ebbs and the publicís attention turns to other news events, it is important for health officials to persist in understanding the root causes of the crisis and identify systemic solutions necessary to protect our health care system.
Those responsible at NECC should be held accountable and subjected to the full extent of the legal system, but understanding what safeguards can be implemented by our state and what protections we should debate at the federal level is crucial to our confidence in the health care system.