State, CDC probe hepatitis C cluster
BALTIMORE State and federal health officials are investigating a cluster of hepatitis C cases in the Baltimore area. As a result, officials with a nuclear pharmacy in Timonium, Maryland, say the facility has stopped operations.
Nuclear pharmacies, which serve hospitals and imaging centers, make tracer agents that are injected into patients and then scanned or tracked through their bodies. Common tests include checking for blocked arteries.
Cardinal Health spokesman Jim Mazzola says the pharmacy has been cooperating with the investigation.
Mazzola says it's possible that the hepatitis C cases could be linked to a single vial of tracer agent prepared by the pharmacy.
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