Pharmacy Linked to Fungal Meningitis Outbreak May Suffer License Suspension

Attorney General Greg Zoeller is looking to have the license of a questionable Massachusetts pharmacy suspended. Zoeller said the pharmacy is linked to the fungal meningitis outbreak that has affected 43 Hoosiers and killed three, and he is urging the Indiana Pharmacy Board to suspend their license, effectively banning them from operating in Indiana for 90 days.

Zoeller said the New England Compounding Center produced the tainted steroid that has been linked to fungal meningitis, but the non-resident pharmacy which distributes its products in Indiana has already suspended operations. The three deaths stemming from the nationwide outbreak have all been linked back to Elkhart county.

Zoeller insists the NECC presents an immediate danger to public health and safety, and the Indiana Pharmacy Board will consider the petition for license suspension at its next meeting on Nov. 5.

Further, six victims of the outbreak in Elkhart County have filed lawsuits against the NECC. The victims, according to our reporting partners at WNDU, are each separately represented by the Law Offices of David Holub of Merrillville and Foley & Small of South Bend, and they are seeking unspecified damages in the suits that have been filed in Elkhart Superior Court.

The victims claim to have suffered mental and physical pain in addition to other injuries and losses, alongside harmful health effects, as a result of receiving the medication that is used for the treatment of back pain.