Four in Minneapolis Show Meningitis Symptoms

Authorities trying to track down more than 700 injected with steroids for back or neck pain

Four patients of Minnesota pain clinics that used a steroid linked to a fungal meningitis outbreak showed symptoms of the disease and were told to be tested, the group's CEO said Friday.

Marsha Thiel, the chief executive officer of Medical Advanced Pain Specialists, said the clinics are working with health authorities to track down about 700 patients who were given injections of the steroid for back or neck pain. MAPS has several locations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and owns the Minnesota Surgery Center clinics, where the now-recalled product from a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy was also used.

"There's a massive effort to contact all the patients," Thiel said.