The Baptist Health System (BHS) was the first to recognize and report the use of contaminated intravenous bags — produced by Birmingham pharmacy Meds IV — that may have caused the death of nine patients who were receiving TPN (total parenteral nutrition) in five Alabama hospitals.
The problem was discovered by BHS on March 14 after infection control workers at Princeton and Shelby Baptist medical centers noticed a bacteria called Serratia marcescens in patients’ blood and that they had all received TPN from IV bags.
BHS stopped using the products immediately and notified the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on March 16. Still four patients died at Princeton BMC in Birmingham and two at Shelby BMC in Alabaster.
The “seriously ill patients were prescribed TPN by physicians because they had significant surgical and medical conditions and unable to receive nutrition by any other means,” BHS Chief Medical Officer Elizabeth Ennis said in a news release. “We don’t know, and may never know, if the Serratia marcescens bloodstream infection played a role in the deaths of these patients.
“Because quality patient care is our top priority, this event is deeply disturbing to all of us at Baptist Health System,” she said. “We will continue our vigilant infection control process, and we are confident that all our actions were prompt, responsible and in the best interest of our patients.”
BHS terminated its relationship with Meds IV immediately and removed all of its other products from the pharmacy stock in BHS hospitals, Ennis added.
There have been 19 cases of Serratia marcescens reported in six hospitals. The three other deaths occurred at Prattville Baptist Hospital, managed by the University of Alabama Hospital; Medical West in Bessemer; and Select Specialty Hospital in Birmingham. Cooper Green Mercy Hospital in Birmingham reported one case but no deaths.
According to The Birmingham News, all of these hospitals have switched suppliers.
Meds IV informed the hospitals of the problem March 15 and recalled all of its IV compounded products dating back to Jan. 1 on March 24. While the majority of the cases occurred in March, the first happened in January.
State Health Officer Don Williamson said it is likely that the bacteria tainted the product while it was being compounded at the pharmacy, the News reported.
Investigators are working to determine how many patients were exposed to the bacteria.
Patients “would have likely shown symptoms immediately because the bacteria was delivered straight to the bloodstream,” according to the News.
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