Associated Press Published

Meningitis Diagnosis Prompted W.Va. Pain Clinic Probe

needle, syringe

  A West Virginia health official says an investigation that found syringes were being reused at a pain management clinic was triggered after a patient developed bacterial meningitis.

Health officials in Ohio and West Virginia advised patients of Valley Pain Management in McMechen on Monday to be tested for blood-borne infectious diseases.

Dr. Loretta Haddy, West Virginia’s state epidemiologist, says a patient contracted bacterial meningitis a day after a procedure at the clinic. Haddy told The Associated Press that health officials were notified last October. 

The advisory is for patients who had an injection between the clinic’s 2010 opening and Nov. 1, 2013.

Dr. Roland Chalifoux Jr. operates the clinic. His attorney, Elgine McArdle, says a subpoena from health agencies for a patient list violates health privacy laws.