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Raeford Teacher Claims She Received Contaminated Painkiller

A Raeford music teacher hopes to be able to teach again. For now, Ginny Rauch has had to stop voice and piano lessons. She said she is just too weak. Rauch is one of four people in North Carolina that contracted fungal meningitis.

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RAEFORD, N.C. — A Raeford music teacher hopes to be able to teach again.

For now, Ginny Rauch has had to stop voice and piano lessons. She said she is just too weak. Rauch is one of four people in North Carolina that contracted fungal meningitis.

"My legs hurt unbelievably. I've never had such pain," she said.

Rauch said she got sick after getting a contaminated injection at a Pinehurst pain clinic. The medication was manufactured at a pharmacy in South Carolina.

Doctors have told Rauch that she may never feel the same.

"I have wonderful friends and family. I'm going to make it back teaching. This is not going to get me," she said. It was just so unexpected. You just go in for a normal procedure and your whole life changes."

The state is now investigating two more cases. In the meantime, the Urgent Care pharmacy remains closed. Although the owner denies wrongdoing, the South Carolina Department of Pharmacy has ordered them not to make any compound drugs for now.

Rauch and others are now pursuing legal action against the pharmacy.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has submitted samples of the drug to the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control. They are still waiting on lab results.

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