May 19, 2013
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A 69-year-old Marion County woman is the latest person in Florida to be diagnosed with meningitis because of a tainted steroid shot.
Department of Health officials on Monday said the woman is the 23rd person in the state to be diagnosed with meningitis.
The woman received the tainted shots at the Florida Pain Clinic in Ocala, Fla.
The nationwide outbreak of this rare disease is linked to patients seeking pain relief and receiving contaminated steroid injections.
The injections all came from contaminated lots of steroids made by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts. An investigation of how the medicine became tainted is underway.
Three people in Florida have died from fungal meningitis after receiving the shots. Nationwide, more than 340 people have contracted meningitis in 18 states.
