U.S. lawmakers pledge action after meningitis outbreak

Tonya Snyder, a Mycology Specialist in the Vanderbilt Clinical Microbiology Lab for patient care examines samples to isolate and identify specimens for gorwth in Nashville, TennesseeWASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic and Republican lawmakers said on Thursday they would alter the regulation of drug compounding pharmacies in hopes of preventing more crises like the rare fungal meningitis outbreak that has now cost 32 lives. The outbreak of 461 cases in 19 states has been linked to tainted steroid injections from a Massachusetts pharmacy and led to public condemnation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and state pharmacy regulators for failing to act against known problems over the course of a decade. …