SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Federal health officials are sounding the alarm once again. The FDA now says more hospitals and clinics may have purchased drugs linked to the meningitis outbreak.
So far 23 people have died and nearly 300 sickened by the contaminated steroid shots.
Monday the Food and Drug Administration expanded the list of drugs and hospitals that may be affected.
Theron Jeppson, an Epidemiologist at Utah Department of Health told ABC 4 News, "We're working to identify those products in the state who have received product from New England Compounding Center that did make it to Utah."
The list included more than 1,200 hospitals and clinics that had purchased steroids and other drugs from the New England Compounding Center, but the FDA took down the list after it realized it wasn't accurate.
So far two centers in Utah made the FDA's list: the Zion Eye Institute in St. George and Cottonwood Surgery Center in Murray.
Jodi Jones with the Cottonwood Surgery Center said, "They had listed us on there as having a cardio pelagic IV solution, or irrigation solution, and that's not the case we don't do hearts here."
Cottonwood Surgery Center did however purchase a bladder solution from NECC, but it has been confirmed that it wasn't contaminated. That goes for all the NECC medications and solutions that have made it to Utah.
Jeppson said, "There is product from New England Compounding Center that did make it to Utah but none of which has been identified as contaminated."
Even though the FDA has only identified three lots of contaminated medication, all products from NECC have been recalled out of an abundance of caution.
