Information Update - Important Information for Canadians: U.S. Meningitis Outbreak

OTTAWA, Oct. 30, 2012 /CNW/ - As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to expand its warnings about products made at the New England Compounding Center (NECC), Health Canada would like to advise Canadians that, to date, there have been no Canadian cases reported to Health Canada of fungal meningitis linked to contaminated health products from the NECC.

The NECC facility is not licenced to produce health products for the Canadian market, and Health Canada has not received any information suggesting that any of its products are being imported and sold or used here. In order to help prevent any possible importations of the affected products, Departmental officials are working with Canada Border Services Agency.

The FDA has posted on its web site a list of affected NECC products and a list of U.S. facilities that received products from the NECC. Health Canada is encouraging Canadians who travelled to the U.S. for medical treatments, procedures and surgeries on or after May 21, 2012 to check the U.S. FDA web site to see if their treatment facility may have received NECC products.

If a Canadian visited a facility that appears on the list mentioned above, they should contact the facility to see if they received any NECC products during their treatment. Canadians who may have been treated with an NECC product should immediately consult with a health care provider.

Health Canada continues to be in regular contact with the U.S. FDA to monitor the situation. Should any new safety information arise concerning Canadians or the Canadian market, Health Canada will inform health care professionals and the public.

Complaints involving medical products can be reported to the Health Products and Food Branch Inspectorate by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-800-267-9675, or by writing to:

Health Products and Food Branch Inspectorate
Health Canada
Address Locator: 2003D
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9

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SOURCE: Health Canada