Area Health Systems Contact Patients Who Received NECC Drugs

Bon Secours Virginia Health System, HCA Virginia and the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System are notifying recent patients if medications they received during  treatment or surgery were purchased from the New England Compounding Center (NECC) - a pharmacy under investigation for a national outbreak of infections linked to a contaminated drug.

Out of an abundance of caution and following the CDC and FDA guidelines, the providers are proactively notifying all patients deemed at risk who have received NECC injectables or inhalants in response to FDA concerns regarding the sterility of drugs produced by NECC.

Officials at all of the local health systems emphasize that the medications their patients received have not currently been confirmed to cause infections. Authorities in fact say the risk is very low and they do not believe that anyone will become ill because of these drugs.

If a patient received drugs purchased from NECC during a treatment or surgery taking place on or after May 21 and is deemed at risk, they will be contacted directly by their Richmond health care provider no later than Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012.

Other states receiving contaminated medication include Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.

For more information, visit www.fda.gov and www.cdc.gov. You may call also call FDA’s Division of Drug Information at 855-543-DRUG (3784) and press * to get the most recent information regarding the multistate meningitis outbreak, report an adverse event, or speak directly to a pharmacist.

CONTACT:

Charlotte Perkins
Bon Secours Virginia
804-380-9078

Malorie Burkett
HCA Virginia
804-873-5473

Cheryle Rodriguez
VCU Health System
804-827-0889