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Meningitis Outbreak
As state officials continue monitoring the rate of infection and death, dozens of patients are still waiting to see if they'll be next. One man who may have received a tainted steroid injection is questioning the way hospital officials have handled the outbreak. John Horrell says he's not after money: just an apology. He says he learned of the Meningitis outbreak on the news before he was officially notified by the St. Thomas clinic where he got the injection. He believes patients, especially those who are suffering, deserve more. Horrell got a steroid injection for back pain at St. Thomas Outpatient on September 6. On September 27, he got an unexpected call from the center.
"The only call I got was to see how I was doing," says Horrell. "Not to tell me that I had been injected with something that had this situation."
He says there was no mention that the steroid he was injected with had been linked to a deadly form of Fungal Meningitis.
"My wife and I were sitting there watching the news," says Horrell. "It came out on the news this Meningitis outbreak and I told my wife, that's us."
John says a notification letter from St. Thomas didn't arrive until October 9. It was the same day he got a bill for the steroid shot that could have killed him.
"There are a lot of people contracting this disease, people dying with this disease," says Horrell. "The health care system is more the health I don't care system. Here is my bill, pay me and deal with our attorneys later."
John says it's not that he can't afford to pay the bill, and he's not interested in filing suit.
"If the hospital had contacted me and said hey, we may have a problem, I would understand," says Horrell. "The news actually, I found out more information from the news than I ever have from the hospital."
So far, the Nashville business man has been symptom free, but doctors say he won't be out of the woods until December: a full 90 days after the injection. He's thankful for that, but is still waiting to hear more from St. Thomas Neurological Center.
"If I do damage to you, I'm sorry," says Horrell. "If the hospital does damage to me, their legal team won't let you say I'm sorry. The Metro Health Department is more concerned about me than the hospital is. They've called me 3 times."
John Horrell wrote a letter to St. Thomas Outpatient Center where he got the injection, expressing his concerns. So far, he hasn't gotten a response. If you have any questions about this rare form of Meningitis, you can go to our website, Fox17.com. Look under HOT TOPICS and click on MENINGITIS.
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 09:04 PM CDT
"The only call I got was to see how I was doing," says Horrell. "Not to tell me that I had been injected with something that had this situation."
He says there was no mention that the steroid he was injected with had been linked to a deadly form of Fungal Meningitis.
"My wife and I were sitting there watching the news," says Horrell. "It came out on the news this Meningitis outbreak and I told my wife, that's us."
John says a notification letter from St. Thomas didn't arrive until October 9. It was the same day he got a bill for the steroid shot that could have killed him.
"There are a lot of people contracting this disease, people dying with this disease," says Horrell. "The health care system is more the health I don't care system. Here is my bill, pay me and deal with our attorneys later."
John says it's not that he can't afford to pay the bill, and he's not interested in filing suit.
"If the hospital had contacted me and said hey, we may have a problem, I would understand," says Horrell. "The news actually, I found out more information from the news than I ever have from the hospital."
So far, the Nashville business man has been symptom free, but doctors say he won't be out of the woods until December: a full 90 days after the injection. He's thankful for that, but is still waiting to hear more from St. Thomas Neurological Center.
"If I do damage to you, I'm sorry," says Horrell. "If the hospital does damage to me, their legal team won't let you say I'm sorry. The Metro Health Department is more concerned about me than the hospital is. They've called me 3 times."
John Horrell wrote a letter to St. Thomas Outpatient Center where he got the injection, expressing his concerns. So far, he hasn't gotten a response. If you have any questions about this rare form of Meningitis, you can go to our website, Fox17.com. Look under HOT TOPICS and click on MENINGITIS.
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 09:04 PM CDT
