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New Jersey has now become the tenth state to report a case of a rare fungal meningitis linked to steroid injections, which has already taken the lives of eleven people, and sickened at least 119.

It’s looking more and more like the injection vials, which have since been recalled, were contaminated with the meningitis. These vials were shipped to 76 facilities in 23 states, and may have been given to as many as 13,000 people.

According to the CDC, 76 facilities in 23 states received products from the company that produced the steroid. Health officials say any patients who received an injection at one of the facilities beginning May 21 and who began showing symptoms between one and four weeks after being injected should see their doctor right away.

The Food and Drug Administration is urging anyone who has experienced problems to report it to MedWatch, the agency's voluntary reporting program, by phone at 1-800-FDA-1088 or online at www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/medwatch-online.htm.

Even if symptoms seem mild, call your doctor anyway.

In addition to typical meningitis symptoms like headache, fever, nausea and stiffness of the neck, people with fungal meningitis may also experience confusion, dizziness and discomfort from bright lights. Patients might just have one or two of these symptoms, medical experts say. -CNN

It’s imperative that more government regulation, not less, is put into place to protect Americans from this kind of deadly mistake. We also need lawsuits to punish wrongdoers and hold them personally responsible for the harms they cause. There is absolutely no excuse for this.

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