Anesthesia Coding Alert

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Make Safety Your Focus During Fungal Meningitis Outbreak

Check out this top advice from the ASA's infection control task force. One of the top news stories in recent weeks has been an outbreak of fungal meningitis among patients who received medications from New England Compounding Center (NECC) after May 21, 2012. Share these tips with your anesthesia providers to help keep them -- and their patients -- safe, straight from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). Background: Three lots of methylprednisolone acetate produced by NECC are implicated in the current outbreak of fungal meningitis. Patients received injections of the medication to treat back pain. At press time, a total of 119 cases of fungal meningitis linked to the injections had been reported in 10 states, according to the CDC. Quick tips: Point your anesthesia providers to "Recommendations for Infection Control for the Practice of Anesthesiology (Third Edition)" for everyday infection control advice. The paper was developed by the ASA Committee [...]
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