| A Union City clinic is among seven facilities identified by authorities as having received suspect medication — methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) — in an ongoing investigation being conducted by state and federal agencies.
An investigation was conducted over the Me-morial Day weekend by the Tennessee Department of Health, Main Street Pharmacy LLC and other state and federal organizations.
Pinnacle Pain Manage-ment Clinic in Union City is one of seven Tennessee clinics that received the suspect medication from Main Street Family Pharmacy in Newbern, according to a news release issued today.
“Many physicians and clinics in 14 states that received suspect medication from the facility, which is licensed as both a pharmacy and a manufacturer/wholesalers/distributor, have been notified and are now conducting outreach efforts,” the release states.
Pinnacle Pain Manage-ment was among those contacted.
“We recently learned of a medication recall involving medication from Main Street Pharmacy in Newbern. Pinnacle Pain Management is working closely with the Tennessee Department of Health on this matter,” Dr. Henry Babenco of Pinnacle Pain Management said. “As far as we know now, only three of our patients were administered any medicine from the recalled lots of steroids. All of them have been notified in person. No one has had any ill effects from these medications to date. We regret any concern and worry that this may have caused.”
In addition to the local clinic, other Tennessee clinics identified in the release include First Choice Clinic in Dyersburg, Christian Care Clinic in Newbern, Axis Medical Clinic in White House, and Quality Care, Getwell Family Clinic and Walker Pain Management Center, all three located in Jackson.
The state health department stated the identity of the seven clinics was not released earlier in order to allow each facility time to launch patient outreach efforts. Other state health departments are releasing the names and locations of facilities within their states as they feel comfortable with patient outreach efforts.
The TDH announced Friday that state and federal health organizations were conducting a cooperative investigation into reports of adverse events among patients in Illinois and North Carolina who received injections of MPA after Dec. 6, 2012, which were produced by the Main Street Family Pharmacy in Newbern.
The organizations involved in the investigation include the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments in Tennessee, Illinois and North Carolina.
Officials have said investigative work during the Memorial Day weekend revealed a small amount of suspect medication was sent to Kansas.
State officials announced staff members at the Main Street Family Pharmacy have been fully cooperative with Tennessee Board of Pharmacy investigators. Investigators have confirmed a well-constructed, clean facility and are continuing to review all aspects of the compounding process, according to the release.
Main Street Family Pharmacy has also launched a voluntary recall of all sterile products, and at this time there are no know adverse effects from any of the additional products, according to the release.
Methylprednisolone acetate is the same medicine implicated in last fall’s deadly, multistate meningitis outbreak.
An article in Tuesday’s edition of The Messenger, written by Associated Press health reporter Kristi L. Nelson, stated the products were distributed to the seven Tennessee facilities as well as facilities in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Flori-da, Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
The Dyer County pharmacy had been on probation since March. Published in The Messenger 5.29.13 |
