Two Idaho Health Providers Get Meningitis Infected Steriod
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — State health officials say a hospital in southwest Idaho and a private clinic in the eastern part of the state are the only two medical facilities that received shipments of a recalled steroid linked to a deadly outbreak of meningitis. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare identified the facilities Friday as the Walter Knox Memorial Hospital in Emmett and Idaho Falls-based Pain Specialists of Idaho. Agency Spokesman Tom Shanahan said doctors at both locations are working to notify patients who may have received an injection of the recalled drug. So far, there are no illnesses reported in Idaho patients who received the shots taken for back pain. Nationally, 47 people in seven states have been diagnosed with infection, and five have died from the rare fungal meningitis.