The Food and Drug Administration has just issued what’s called a “Medwatch Alert” warning that Epidural steroid injections or “ESIs” for back and neck pain can be extremely dangerous. The alert says: “Injection of corticosteroids into the epidural space of the spine may result in rare but serious adverse events, including loss of vision, stroke, paralysis, and death.”
Epidural steroid injections – and catastrophic injuries from them – were the subject of my debut investigation for The Dr. Oz Show almost exactly a year ago. (You can watch the video here and read the web article here.) The epidural space is an area between the spinal cord and the bony structure of the spine.