For Karissa Klemm, the nationwide story of a fungal meningitis outbreak is a personal story of survival. The Northridge High School student is one of the 30 victims of the affliction in Elkhart County. Nationwide, 461 cases have been diagnosed and 17,000 patients were exposed to the tainted medicine, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
We told Karissa’s story in last Saturday’s edition. Since then, one more case of the disease has been recorded in Elkhart County and a fifth death in Indiana from the outbreak has occurred. Elkhart County has a high number of these cases due to the OSMC Outpatient Surgery Center in Elkhart having unknowingly used the tainted MPA steroid back pain medication to treat patients from across Michiana. OSMC is one of six clinics in Indiana to have utilized the medication, and it appears that these businesses have also been victimized by this outbreak.
The outbreak is a perfect example of how one supplier of medicine or food can cause a nationwide problem and leave health experts scrambling to control something they have not experienced before. In the past, the United States has had widespread outbreaks of bacterial infections caused by vegetables and fruits and sometimes meat. But this medicinal outbreak is something new, where a fungus inadvertently contaminated large amounts of medicine. The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration are continuing their investigation into how the fungus contaminated the medicine at the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass.
The one thing about this outbreak that is really scary, is that the contaminated medicine was widely distributed without anyone knowing it was contaminated until the first infections began to appear.
What needs to occur now is a change in regulatory powers and procedures to make sure that in the future, all equipment and compounds at similar compounding centers are thoroughly tested and tested at short intervals, to make sure no contaminants are allowed into any medication. If that means Congress has to tighten regulations and approve more funding for more inspectors, then so be it.
As a community and nation, we must ensure that the health of people like Karissa is not harmed by lack of proper oversight of the pharmaceutical industry.
Opinion
This meningitis outbreak shows need for controls
- Opinion
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Like it or not, Sheriff is going to speak freely
Elkhart County Sheriff Brad Rogers has taken heat the past couple weeks after he commented during a political rally in downtown South Bend that he would not enforce proposed future gun-control legislation within his jurisdiction.
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Goshen neighborhood stands together on north side
Sometimes a news photographer is at the optimum location at exactly the right time. Goshen News staffer Sam Householder was in such a spot Wednesday.
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We just can’t thank our moms enough
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It's time to spruce up the Maple City
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Smooth sailing for this year’s regular session
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Palm Sunday tornadoes a reminder of sudden danger
It was a beautiful day, most people around these parts who can remember will tell you. It was one of those near-perfect, early spring days, they would likely say, a stark contrast to what early evening would bring on April 11, 1965.
Yes, the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965, is still very vivid in our local history five decades later. Those were days before Doppler Radar, 24-7 cable television, countywide siren warning systems and even seatbelts in most cars. So, when afternoon turned to early evening, many local residents had little or no warning that killer tornadoes were nearly on top of them. -
Graduation is always a great achievement
While many of us have been waiting patiently – some not so patiently – for spring to finally show up in Northern Indiana, students throughout the area have been busy working on term papers, taking tests and ordering caps and gowns.
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Carl Weaver has inspired many at GHS
Goshen High School teacher Carl Weaver has created one of the most successful science program in the United States, and we, on behalf of the thousands of students who have experienced the program, thank him.
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