Health officials have confirmed another death of a patient injected with a contaminated steroid shot, bringing the number of people killed in a growing outbreak of fungal meningitis to 15.
On Saturday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the figure for known cases of the illness had hit 197, up by 13 on the previous day.
The health scare's latest victim was identified as a patient in Indiana, a state that has now reported two deaths from the rare form of meningitis. In addition, CDC noted a case of an infection, thought to have been caused by an ankle injection, that has not been confirmed as meningitis.
The outbreak has been traced to batches of methylprednisolone acetate – a steroid used commonly to ease back pain – that were prepared by the New England Compounding Center (NECC) and shipped to 76 clinics in 23 states between July to September.
Investigators from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) visiting the Massachusetts pharmacy compounder found a fungal contaminate in a sealed vial. They also found a "foreign material" in another, opened container.
It has since emerged that the pharmacy compounder has a checkered history, and has been cited in the past for health and safety violations. Questions have also been asked over the regulation of the company by state authorities.
Despite NECC's documented failings, clinics from across the US were able to order close to 18,000 doses of the steroid, prompting a large scale search for all those injected after the contamination came to light.
On Thursday a woman from Minnesota became the first patient to sue NECC. The class action alleges that the NECC sale of "defective and dangerously contaminated" steroid shots, that caused "bodily harm, emotional distress and other personal injuries".
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