A Howell woman sick with meningitis is now suing the Massachusetts pharmacy linked to the tainted steroids.
Marc Lipton, the Southfield Lawyer handling the case, says his client, 46-year-old Brenda Bansale, received steroid injections on or near August 28 at Michigan Pain Specialists in Brighton.
It was right around October 4th when she started to have severe headaches and nausea. Bansale went to a local hospital, but was rushed to Saint Joseph's in Ypsilanti for treatment. Lipton says Bansale spent two and a half weeks in the hospital and will need to continue taking anti-fungal medications for months.
Her husband, Robert Bansale says watching her go through all this pain is unbearable.
"I can sit here and see it in her face as I started to watch over her that she'd just start clenching her fist, tears would just start streaming from her eyes and you'd just have to hold her," said Bansale.
Lipton says the family wants to sue the New England pharmaceutical company for tougher regulations and to compensate Brenda.
"The companies themselves are under regulated and the only way to regulate them is to essentially scare them with the threat of other claims and other lawsuits if they continue to act in this manner," said Lipton. "The medical bills alone are going to be six figures, well over 100, 200, 300 thousand dollars in medical bills that are going to be paid on Mrs. Bensale's behalf by insurance companies."
The lawsuit was filed Monday against the New England Compounding Center. It also states the center was selling large quantities of medicines, even though it was only licensed to fill small, specialty prescriptions.
The lawsuit is open to any Michigan resident who received or was exposed to the drug. Bansale is the first to file in Michigan and one of at least three nationally.
