There is risk. And there is unacceptable risk.

http://blogs.wsj.com/wsjam/2012/10/19/patients-in-patient-take-risk-for-relief/

Patients in Pain Take Risk for Relief

Clinics and surgical centers that offer such injections say they are fielding a flood of patient questions about safety in the wake of the meningitis outbreak, which federal officials say has killed 20 patients and sickened 254. But doctors say demand for the procedures, in which steroids are injected into the epidural space in the spine, remains strong—a testament to the desperation of people seeking pain relief. The Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Rockoff explains to Gordon Deal why some patients are still receiving steroid shots after the meningitis outbreak.