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NEW YORK A former employee of the New England Compounding Center, under scrutiny as a result of the nationwide meningitis outbreak which has claimed 15 lives to date, said questions about whether NECC was engaging in specialty compounding or was crossing over into manufacturing were actively discussed by company management as far back as 2009. The former employee, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, told CBS News that New England Compounding Center's insurance contract in 2009 "had a very clear manufacturing exclusion in their policy, " meaning the company was not covered for manufacturing, only smaller specialty compounding.

Was it some moldy ceiling tiles? The dusty shoes of a careless employee? Or did the contamination ride in on one of the ingredients? There are lots of ways fungus could have gotten inside the Massachusetts compounding pharmacy whose steroid medication has been linked to a lethal outbreak of a rare fungal form of meningitis. The outbreak has killed at least 15 people and sickened more than 200 others in 15 states. Nearly all the victims had received steroid injections for back pain. Federal and state investigators have been tight lipped about any problems they may have seen at the...

Another 19 people have been diagnosed with fungal meningitis linked to possibly tainted vials of a steroid medication, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 231. The CDC said there were two additional cases of infection in joints after a steroid injection but these were not confirmed as meningitis, bringing the total of infections nationwide to 233. The death toll from the unprecedented outbreak was unchanged at 15, the CDC said.

Even as Gov. Deval Patrick was brushing off criticism he’s been off stumping for President Obama amid the state drug lab scandal and the deadly meningitis outbreak traced to a state licensed pharmacy, the FDA warned yesterday that other drugs produced by the Framingham compounding company could be tainted with the lethal disease.

-excerpt- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the outbreak has now sickened 197 people in a 13 states.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported 91 cases in nine states on Sunday, up from 64 on Saturday. Health authorities scrambled on Monday to identify more cases of a rare form of meningitis, including enlisting local police to find people who might be infected by tainted steroid injections that have so far killed seven people. The widening outbreak has alarmed federal and state health officials and focused attention on regulation of pharmaceutical compounding companies like the one that produced the drugs, the New England Compounding Center Inc in Framingham, Massachusetts. In Ohio, health officials said Monday they are mobilizing...

-excerpt- All received steroid injections, mostly for back pain, a fairly typical treatment.

<p>STILLWATER, Minn. – Health officials have closed Lily Lake to swimmers until further notice while the Minnesota Department of Health investigates the death of a boy who appears to have died from a rare form of meningitis caused by an amoeba found in warm freshwater.</p>

DENISON, TX--College students may have to visit the doctor before they enroll next semester. The State of Texas now requires all students under 30 to get a meningitis vaccine. Starting in January 2012, Grayson County College students will have to follow suit. Those who have already been vaccinated only need to show a proof of immunization. "We really need to have them immunized and have proof of immunization," Shelle Cassell said, Grayson County College Director of Marketing/Public Information. There is an exception process that the state has put in place if you have religious beliefs or if you have a...

Starting in January, newly enrolling students in public or private colleges under age 30 will be required to be vaccinated for meningitis. The recently passed law targets all first-time and transfer students. Students can opt out of the requirement for health, religious or other reasons, but they need to file paperwork to do so. Students enrolled at online universities are also exempted. With than 1 million Texans enrolled in higher education programs, the law is expected to affect several hundred thousand people across the state,.. Now colleges are increasing their efforts to make sure students get their shots and get...

Genetic differences that make some people susceptible to developing meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia, and others naturally immune, are revealed in a new study of over 6,000 people, published today in Nature Genetics. The research, led by Imperial College London and the Genome Institute of Singapore, is the largest ever genetic study of meningitis and septicaemia caused by meningococcal bacteria. It suggests that people who develop these diseases have innate differences in their natural defences that leave them unable to attack meningococcal bacteria successfully. Although several different bacteria and viruses cause meningitis, meningococcal bacteria cause one of the most devastating forms...

A DESPERATE woman texted photos of herself slowly DYING to her mum as she lay suffering on a hospital bed - being ignored by NHS doctors. Tragic Jo Dowling, 25, sent over forty messages to her mother and best friend including pictures of a deadly rash spreading across her body as her life ebbed away. The pretty youngster was diagnosed by her family GP with suspected Meningococcal Septicaemia after developing a purple skin rash and low blood pressure last November. She was rushed to Milton Keynes Hospital where A&E doctors rejected the diagnosis believing instead her illness was a mild...

A boy of 10 died from meningitis after doctors wrongly diagnosed a migraine and told his mother to give him calpol, an inquest was told yesterday. William Cressey saw five doctors in three days before finally suffering 'catastrophic' brain damage. His mother, Cheryl, 48, repeatedly told doctors that she suspected meningitis but each time was ignored, she said. Just hours before he died the schoolboy begged one of those doctors: 'Please help me. I'm going to die.' By then his face was so swollen that he could barely see and he was drifting in and out of consciousness. Wiping tears...

It seemed to be a perfect example of a tasteless political fib: Michelle Obama invoking a heart-wrenching but untrue story about her daughter Sasha's medical woes. A conservative blogger concluded: "Today Mrs. Obama says (Sasha) was four months old but fortunately did not have meningitis. Yet just eight days ago her husband said she was three months old and was diagnosed with meningitis." One blog used the opportunity to reprint the Obama-as-Joker photo, HotAir.com called it "serious incompetence" on the Obamas' part, it appeared on Breitbart.tv, and the crowd over at FreeRepublic.com dubbed the president a "chronic liar."

Here is video showing that President Obama either misrepresented the facts in telling a personal story about his daughter Sasha having been "diagnosed with meningitis," or he simply did not know the facts. At any rate, the New York Times reported: In her speech, Mrs. Obama also told the story of how her daughter Sasha would not stop crying when she was 4 months old. A doctor’s visit revealed she might have meningitis; she ultimately did not, but the illness produced a scare.Thankfully, she did not have meningitis. But why would Obama say she was "diagnosed with meningitis." This is...

Child with possible meningitis was 'failed by system' say parentsThe parents of a two-year-old girl thought to have died from meningitis after they were told she was suffering from swine flu said yesterday that she had been "failed by the system". Georgia Keeling, from Norwich, died after being rushed to hospital on Tuesday. Her parents, Paul Sewell, 21, and Tasha Keeling, 22, said they contacted health services, including NHS Direct, the swine flu helpline and the emergency services, five times after their daughter first developed a temperature on Saturday. The couple said that by Tuesday she had also developed a...

It can take just hours after the symptoms appear for someone to die from bacterial meningitis. Now, after years of research, experts at The University of Nottingham have finally discovered how the deadly meningococcal bacteria is able to break through the body's natural defence mechanism and attack the brain. The discovery could lead to better treatment and vaccines for meningitis and could save the lives of hundreds of children. Bacterial meningitis in childhood is almost exclusively caused by the respiratory tract pathogens Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Haemophilus influenzae. The mechanism used by these lethal germs to break through the...

(CBS) Fifteen-year-old Alex Koehne died suddenly last year from what doctors thought was Meningitis. "He said, 'Mommy, am I going to die?', and I said, 'No baby, they're going to make you all better,' his mother, Lisa Koehne remembers. CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes reports his devastated parents took some solace in knowing that his death would give others new life. His mother says organ donation is very important to the family. "Alex always knew what he wanted." Alex's liver went to a 52-year-old man. His pancreas to a 36-year-old woman. His kidneys went to two different men, one 46...

A Catholic school guidance counselor in New York City has died from bacterial meningitis, CBS station WCBS-TV reported. The New York City health department confirmed the counselor worked at St. Francis Preparatory High School in the Queens borough. The victim's identity has not yet been released. On Thursday, a Long Island high school senior also died suddenly from the deadly bacteria. Michael Gruber, a senior at Massapaequa High School, was taking midterm exams and joking with friends on Wednesday when he came down with a fever and chills. He was dead by Thursday afternoon. After his death, the school district...

ATLANTA (AP) — Merck & Co. is recalling about a million doses of a childhood vaccine, after testing showed a sterilization problem in a Pennsylvania factory.