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Meningitis Outbreak
Even at the age of 78 Kentucky judge Eddie Lovelace had big plans for the coming years.
"He was going to retire and open up a private practice with his granddaughter,"
said son Chris Lovelace.
All of that changed with a seemingly safe medical procedure to relieve back pain with a spinal steroid injection.
Lovelace received his last one in August and became feeling ill in September.
"He began to complain of a headache. He had numbness in a couple of fingers and in general didn't feel well," said Lovelace.
Eddie Lovelace died September 17th.
He's possibly the first death attributed to the tainted steroid injections produced by the New England Compounding Center.
The meningitis outbreak that followed has killed at least 11 people who received injections in Tennessee but there are reasons to believe it's on its way out of the Volunteer State.
"We believe we're gonna see people out even a few months although the numbers will be very small," said Tennessee Department of Health Chief Medical Officer David Reagan.
Reagan says the period of greatest risk for people who've received injections will be over by November 8th.
Officials believe the cases that pop up after then could be less severe and they continue to feel optimistic by the fact other medication produced by the New England Compounding Center haven't produced infections in Tennessee.
"Not 100-percent sure right now but we're more assured than we were a week ago or two weeks ago that that's not gonna happen. These other products if there was contamination it's a much lower level," said Reagan.
Thursday, November 1 2012, 10:15 PM CDT
"He was going to retire and open up a private practice with his granddaughter,"
said son Chris Lovelace.
All of that changed with a seemingly safe medical procedure to relieve back pain with a spinal steroid injection.
Lovelace received his last one in August and became feeling ill in September.
"He began to complain of a headache. He had numbness in a couple of fingers and in general didn't feel well," said Lovelace.
Eddie Lovelace died September 17th.
He's possibly the first death attributed to the tainted steroid injections produced by the New England Compounding Center.
The meningitis outbreak that followed has killed at least 11 people who received injections in Tennessee but there are reasons to believe it's on its way out of the Volunteer State.
"We believe we're gonna see people out even a few months although the numbers will be very small," said Tennessee Department of Health Chief Medical Officer David Reagan.
Reagan says the period of greatest risk for people who've received injections will be over by November 8th.
Officials believe the cases that pop up after then could be less severe and they continue to feel optimistic by the fact other medication produced by the New England Compounding Center haven't produced infections in Tennessee.
"Not 100-percent sure right now but we're more assured than we were a week ago or two weeks ago that that's not gonna happen. These other products if there was contamination it's a much lower level," said Reagan.
Thursday, November 1 2012, 10:15 PM CDT
