Door Opens to Sue Medical Providers Who Prescribed Tainted Steroids

Victims of New England Compounding Center's deadly fungal meningitis outbreak are now able to sue the health care facilities and providers who prescribed the tainted steroids. New England Compounding Center filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection shortly after the outbreak and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Henry J. Boroff recently declared NECC insolvent. This means that Tennessee victims are now allowed to file product liability claims against medical providers who had prescribed steroids that led to the meningitis outbreak. Before the declaration of insolvency, victims were only allowed to pursue professional or medical negligence claims, according to the law in Tennessee.

Attorneys for Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgical Center and other Tennessee health-care providers where patients were injected with fungus-tainted steroids from NECC tried to fight against the motion. They argued that even with the declaration of insolvency, claims could not be made against health-care providers because they were not the sellers of the tainted drugs. The court ultimately rejected their arguments and also denied a motion to set October 15, 2013 as the final deadline for anyone to file claims against NECC.

As of this month, 749 people in 20 states have been sickened with meningitis as a result of the injections and 61 people have died. If you or a loved one were one of these people, Girards Law can help. We are pursing claims against NECC for patients as well as attorneys who represent injured patients. Initial consultations are completely free, so please call Girards Law today at 888.897.2762.