An estimated 14,000 Americans were exposed to a meningitis-causing fungus when they received contaminated steroid injections for back pain. Since the injections are given directly into the space around your spinal cord, it gave the fungus direct access to the spinal cord and, from there, the brain (meningitis is an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord).

As of October 12, 170 cases of fungal meningitis, including 14 deaths, have been reported across the United States.

The potentially contaminated injections were given starting May 21, 2012 and continued until the September 26 recall, which included three lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (80mg/ml), a form of steroid injection for back pain, from the New England Compounding Center (NECC).

If you have received a steroid injection for back pain during the time in question, contact your health care provider immediately to find out if yours came from the contaminated lots. Be vigilant in watching for symptoms, which can take a matter of one to four weeks, or even months, to develop.

Fungal meningitis, while not contagious like other forms of the disease, is potentially fatal and causes severe headache, nausea, dizziness, fever and stroke-like symptoms (numbness, weakness) due to an inflammation of the lining of your brain and spinal cord. It is often caused by a common leaf mold; investigators found an unidentified fungus contaminating a sealed vial of the steroid at the New England Compounding Center.

Pharmacy That Made the Contaminated Drugs NOT Regulated by the FDA

You probably assume when you receive a medication of any kind that it has met certain standards for safety and efficacy. But the contaminated steroid injections came from a compounding pharmacy, which generally produce small amounts of customized medications designed for individual patients, and therefore fall largely outside of federal FDA regulations.

Some compounding pharmacies, like NECC, have grown quite large and, rather than producing small amounts of quality remedies, produce the same drugs as larger pharmaceutical companies (sometimes with less sophisticated equipment and oversight). The contaminated steroids, for instance, were not made for an individual patient, but were shipped to nearly two dozen states and given to 14,000 people.

The problem is not compounding pharmacies, per say, as many media outlets are reporting. Contamination, errors, and lack of safety studies occur at the big-name pharmaceutical companies too, often in far greater scale.

The problem is that you simply cannot trust the pharmaceutical companies or the government "regulating” them to keep you safe. This is the perfect proof that your health, and very life, could be at risk when you blindly put your trust in the conventional medicine paradigm.

Adding insult to injury, steroid injections for back pain have a lousy track record. Research shows their benefits are questionable, and if there are any, they are typically only short-lived. One recent study found the steroid shots are no more effective than a placebo, which suggests any short-term improvement in pain may simply be the result of normal healing.[i]

Are You Ready to be Rid of Back Pain?

You’ve got to take your health and safety into your OWN hands ... and an excellent starting point is with my FREE 7-Day Back Pain Cure book. You’ll learn:

• The 3 hidden causes of all back pain... Page 14
• The 7 mistakes that keep you suffering... Page 35
• Why most back pain treatments fail... Page 24
• How to prevent pain flare-ups in the future... Page 148
• My unique "7-Day-Action Plans" Page 89
• My 6 easy-to-implement lifestyles changes you can make TODAY... and watch your back pain begin to disappear just a few days later!
• The NEW alternative to back pain surgery, which is less invasive... safer... has fewer side effects... and provides permanent relief!
• How to easily and quickly eliminate your pain caused from sitting all day!
• ... and much, much more!

Again, this book is FREE, so you really have nothing to lose, except your back pain. I really don’t want to see anymore people tragically suffering from conventional back pain treatments that don’t work and, often, as is the case in this tragic meningitis outbreak, end up causing side effects that are worse than your original condition.

You deserve better than that. If you’re struggling with back pain, The 7-Day Back Pain Cure will help YOU get rid of your back pain, naturally, safely, and for good.

Be well,

Jesse Cannone