Massachusetts officials said Tuesday they found unclean conditions, including visible black specks of fungus in steroids, and a leaking boiler near what was supposed to be a clean room at a pharmacy linked to a deadly outbreak of meningitis.
The outbreak of fungal meningitis, an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, has sickened 308 people, including 23 who have died, in 17 states.
The New England drug recall could now involve up to 54 Colorado doctors and medical facilities identified Tuesday by the FDA. The FDA said the list may be incomplete, but was from the records of the New England Compounding Center pharmacy. The Colorado portion of the list ranges from individual eye doctors who used ophthalmic versions of the drugs to pain clinics and large hospitals.
The FDA is urging all of the doctors, clinics and hospital pharmacies to find the lots of drugs shipped after May 21, and set them aside for recall. The FDA is also telling those medical centers to reach out to patients if they were injected with drugs received from the New England Compounding Center, with product shipped on or after May 21.
Colorado has not reported any illnesses related to the recalled drugs.
The FDA’s information page, including links to a list of all the Colorado facilities that received shipments of the drugs, can be found at
Denver Post staff writer Michael Booth contributed to this report.
