Crime & Safety

Update on MN Fungal Meningitis Outbreak: Savage Patient Files Lawsuit

One infected Minnesotan remains hospitalized in outbreak that has now killed 14 in U.S.

The outbreak of fungal meningitis in Minnesota moved to the courts Thursday when a woman who received tainted steroid shots file suit in federal court, according to WCCO.

Barbe Puro of Savage is seeking damages for injuries and the formation of a class of injured people in the state, WCCO said. Her medical future is uncertain and she underwent a spinal tap in response to the potential infection.

The Pioneer Press reported that Puro received the tainted shots from a pain clinic in Shakopee. The lawsuit is against New England Compounding Center, which made the steriod implicated in the fungal meningitis outbreak.

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MPR reported Thursday that two of the three Minnesotans that were confirmed to have the fungal meningitis infection have left the hospital. The third remains hospitalized.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people in the United States who have died  in the outbreak is 14 as of Thursday afternoon. One hundred seventy people are infected in 11 states, including Minnesota.

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Theses are the two providers in Minnesota that provided the tainted steroids and the locations of their six clinics, according to the Minnesota Department of Health:


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