The recent fungal meningitis outbreak has been linked to contaminated methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) injections produced by the New England Compounding Center (NECC). The contaminated corticosteroid injections have resulted in 590 cases and 37 deaths. It has been a tragedy for the families involved. For anti-steroid crusaders, it has simply provided another tool to unfairly demonize anabolic steroids.
Various news media and anti-steroid organizations have erroneously included the risk of fungal meningitis as a possible side effect of anabolic steroids.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) is the most recent agency to add to the unwarranted hysteria among users of black market anabolic steroids. BCSO recently shut down an underground lab (UGL) that manufactured anabolic steroids under the label “Spartan Laboratories.”
BCSO Captain Faith Bell cited the NECC case as the reason BCSO investigators were concerned about fungal contamination according to WMBB-TV in Panama City, Florida.
“Potential to spread the fungus and bacteria was our main concern,” said Bell. “In this case, that people would be injecting this stuff and within a short window of time be dead.”
Whether out of willful ignorance or careless fact-checking, the irresponsible statements by the BCSO has contributed to the societal hysteria regarding anabolic steroids.
The truth is that there is essentially zero risk of non-medical anabolic steroid users contracting fungal meningitis.
MPA is a synthetic corticosteroid and NOT an anabolic steroid.
MPA are introduced directly into the central nervous system (CNS) via epidural injections.
Anabolic steroids are introduced into the muscular system via intramuscular injections.
The risk of fungal meningitis is rare.
The current outbreak was solely the result of a contaminated MPA solution being injected into the central nervous system.
Individuals injecting anabolic steroids intramuscularly are not at risk of being dead “within a short window of time” from fungal meningitis.
It is still important to note that there are significant risks associated with the potentially-contaminated injections of UGL anabolic steroids of unknown quality.
But fungal meningitis is not one of them.
The media has utterly failed to make any corrections or clarifications with regard to this matter. Please spread the word.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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