State Ties Texas Pharmacy to Bacterial Outbreak

State health officials have connected a Central Texas compounding pharmacy to a bacterial outbreak that sickened 17 patients in Corpus Christi hospitals earlier this year.

Texas Department of State Health Services spokesman Chris Van Deusen told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that bacteria found in an unopened bag of sterile drugs at a local hospital was “indistinguishable” from that discovered in the blood of those sickened.

Cedar Park-based Specialty Compounding representatives had not seen the findings Monday. A call to the company’s spokesman from The Associated Press was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Those whose blood contained the bacteria – two died – had all received calcium gluconate, an additive in some IV solutions. The Food and Drug Administration announced a recall of the company’s sterile products in August.