INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A state health official says Indiana's confirmed cases of fungal meningitis linked to a tainted back pain medication have risen to 24.
State Department of Health spokesman Ken Severson released the update Friday, a day after federal officials confirmed Indiana's first death from the illness.
The family of an 89-year-old southern Michigan woman said Thursday they believe she died of fungal meningitis after receiving two injections of the tainted drug at a northern Indiana clinic.
A relative said they were awaiting autopsy results to confirm Pauline Burema's case of death. Burema was a Cassopolis, Mich., resident.
Indiana's 24 cases involve patients at six Indiana health facilities that received a steroid recalled by a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy. Those clinics are in Elkhart, Evansville, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Terre Haute and Columbus.
