CDC: 10 more people have fungal infections linked to Framingham pharmacy

By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Ten more people have fungal meningitis linked to injectable steroids produced at a Framingham pharmacy, bringing the total to 304, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday. Four others treated with the steroids have peripheral joint infections. No new deaths were reported.

The steroid, methylprednisolone acetate produced at New England Compounding Center, has been blamed to date for 23 deaths in seven states. Federal health officials have said as many as 14,000 people may have been exposed to the tainted drugs between May 21 and Sept. 26, when they were recalled by the company.

The pharmacy and a related company with common ownership, Ameridose, are under scrutiny from state and federal investigators.

Pharmacy Board records released Monday by the state detailed complaints against New England Compounding dating to 1999. The chief executive of a firm the board enlisted in 2006 to review operations of the pharmacy was later convicted of fraud, the Globe reported Tuesday.

One of the new infections was in Georgia, making it the 17th state with infections linked to the pharmacy. Other cases announced Tuesday were in Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, and Tennessee. There were new reports in New Hampshire, which has 10 cases and is the only New England state with reported infections. None of the tainted steroid is thought to have been distributed to Massachusetts doctors, clinics or hospitals.